Moscow investigators find out the circumstances of the fall of a woman and her two young children from the window of the ninth floor of a house in the Babushkinsky district of Moscow. The tragedy occurred on Monday morning, November 11th. The deceased left a suicide note in which she asked not to blame anyone for her death and “not to imprison” her husband.
“The investigating authorities of the Main Investigative Department of the IC of the Russian Federation in the city of Moscow opened a criminal case on the grounds of a crime under Part 2 of Art. 105 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (murder), ”the capital administration of the UK said in a statement.
The tragedy occurred at about nine in the morning. Near the residential building No. 6 on Chicherin Street, the bodies of Sokolova and the infant, a girl, were discovered. Nearby lay the woman’s young son. The boy survived the fall and was taken to intensive care in an extremely serious condition. Doctors are fighting for his life, but so far have not given predictions.
The UK also said that during the initial investigative actions, relatives and eyewitnesses of the tragedy were interviewed.
The media report that soon after the arrival of the police, the husband of the deceased Vitaly Sokolov arrived at the house on Chicherin Street. At the time of the incident, he was at work. The man was in a state of shock, trying to get to the place where his loved ones fell, and as a result, he himself needed the help of doctors. He was able to tell the police only that after the birth of the youngest child, his wife was very worried.
According to a number of publications, on the morning of November 11, Lyudmila Sokolova called an ambulance home several times - supposedly her daughter refused to breast-feed, she had no appetite, which very worried Sokolova, who did not know how to help her child. The doctors did not immediately go to Sokolova, at first confining themselves to a telephone consultation and advice to call a pediatrician. Arriving at the end of the call to doctors, no one opened the door.
- © Photo from the personal archive
Not registered
According to law enforcement agencies, the family was not registered as dysfunctional. In an interview with RT, Sokolov’s neighbors emphasized that Lyudmila and her husband “made the impression of decent people and good parents.” A couple was regularly seen while walking with children.
“I often saw Lyudmila here with a stroller. The children, apparently, did not go to the kindergarten - it’s expensive to pay for the kindergarten now, and it’s hard to get there. We sometimes greeted her husband with her. They have two children, the children did not run, they did not bully. A good, decent family - my husband worked, there were no drunken parties, no partying, ”said the Sokolov’s neighbor on the porch.
This information was confirmed by RT and other residents of the house - the tragedy greatly shocked people, since Lyudmila seemed to all an adequate and kind mother. On the eve of the tragedy, the neighbors saw her walking with the children in the yard. On the morning of November 11, no one in the house heard screams or noticed anything suspicious.
“A nimble, normal woman, she laughs sometimes. She did not work now, because she had just given birth, in February or in March. And the husband worked, ”recalls a neighbor of the spouses.
Residents of the house where the tragedy occurred also told reporters that recently Sokolova sometimes “jokingly” said that she had postpartum depression. Presumably, this could cause a tragedy.
Postpartum Depression: Specialist Opinion
RT talked to Lev Perezhogin, MD, Leading Researcher at the Research Center for Psychiatry and Narcology named after V.P. Serbsky.
- It is possible that the cause of such a tragedy was postpartum depression, but nine months from the time of the last birth is a rather long time, not to notice postpartum depression in such a time would be rather strange. Here you also need to watch what happened to the woman, what her prospects for the future were, what kind of relationship she had with her husband.
The existence of postpartum depression is a clinically proven fact, none of the experts have any doubts that such a disorder exists. The causes of postpartum depression are not very clear, they are mainly associated with the hormonal restructuring of the female body, and with childbirth as a very difficult psycho-traumatic situation for a woman.
Another very important point - during pregnancy, chronic mental disorders are often exacerbated. It happens that pregnancy provokes the onset of mental disorders or their aggravation if they were in remission or were in a latent state, which can also manifest itself in the form of depression.
Symptoms of postpartum depression are characterized by the classic “depressive triad”: a decrease in mood, a decrease in ideator (cognitive) activity and the accompanying thoughts, decreased motility. But the nature of the emerging depressive thoughts is usually associated either with the child, or with the situation surrounding the woman, or with her general expectations from motherhood. With postpartum depression, a woman may think that she does not succeed, that she is a useless mother and is not capable of anything.
It is known that such a condition is quite common, perhaps in every tenth woman who gives birth. However, postpartum depression may not be in such pronounced forms that lead to any criminal acts.
RT also learned the opinion of Eugenia Teleshova, a psychiatrist, scientific and practical psychoneurological center named after Z. P. Soloviev.
- In this case, it is significant that we are talking about the eldest son. This indicates the severity of depression. It is rather severe depression.
Why hasn’t such a serious depression been discerned before? Unfortunately, our attitude towards people with depressive disorder is generally not very serious. Such people are often criticized for their condition, they are told to pull themselves together, although in fact they need serious help.
Postpartum depression can be caused by family relationships, misunderstanding on the part of the spouse. Hormones play an important role: the level of estrogen, progesterone during pregnancy rises several times, and one of the active producers of these hormones is the placenta. After the birth of the baby and the passage of the placenta, a sharp drop in the level of these hormones occurs.
Depressive conditions can also be caused by a lack of night sleep, especially if the child is restless, does not sleep well. When a woman sits at home with her baby, the responsibility of caring for the baby during the day — coupled with cleaning, feeding, washing — and constant lifts at night often falls on her.
Another factor is a hereditary predisposition or the presence in the preceding pregnancy period of any depressive disorders. If they have already met in the history of a woman or her relatives, the likelihood of developing postpartum depression increases. In addition, during pregnancy and lactation, as a rule, women are recommended to stop taking medications that affect the level of mood or anxiety, for example, antidepressants. This can also lead to a deterioration.