Out-of-work bar girl jumps off Sea Link

Mumbai: In a telling incident that the plight of bar girls persists, a 25-year-old woman tried to commit suicide by jumping off the Bandra-Worli Sea Link late Saturday night.

She was rescued by fishermen and taken to KEM hospital, from where she was discharged around 2 am.

Cops said she was driven to the extreme move after the bar she worked at shut last month, rendering her jobless.

This is the second incident of attempted suicide at the BWSL. A 30-year-old man had tried to jump off the bridge in November last year.

According to eyewitnesses, the woman, a resident of Worli, managed to slip past security guards at the Worli end of the sea link a little after midnight.

When the guards spotted her walking on the bridge, they started running toward her, blowing whistles and shouting. But she quickened her pace and hurriedly flung herself in the waters below.

Fishermen rescue
As the guards called the cops and the fire brigade, three fishermen who stay near BWSL came to know of the incident, and went into the sea to rescue her. They will be now awarded by the police for their effort.

"The fishermen immediately sought permission from us to go into the water in the middle of the night," said Sub-inspector Ram Thakur of Worli police station.

"When they brought her out of the sea, she was alive. We took her to KEM hospital and by 2 am, when she seemed fine, doctors discharged her. But she was traumatised and refused to give us any details about herself. After a lot of counselling, she finally told us her name and address," said Senior Inspector Vasant Tajane.

Police investigations revealed that she used to work at Stanley Bar in Tardeo. But last month, the bar owner decided to shut it, after which she had no means to sustain herself.

Cops have also learnt that while leaving home, she bolted her door from the outside while her mother and younger brother were asleep inside.

The police said the matter was still under investigation. No case has been registered yet. "The woman is in a state of shock, and we have not been able to talk to her yet," said Thakur.