Supreme Court grants bail to mentally ill Maharashtra mother

The Supreme Court has granted bail to Pushpa Venaram Gujar, a woman from Maharashtra, who has been accused of killing her two young children. The court made its decision based on her severe mental illness, which has been documented for several years. Gujar is accused of murdering her four-year-old daughter and one-year-old son on October 30, 2022, by cutting their throats in their home in Navi Mumbai. Her husband found her with the children's bodies when he returned from work. She also harmed herself during the incident. The court considered reports from various psychiatrists, who noted that Gujar had significant mental health issues. They mentioned her tendency to isolate herself, her inability to eat, and her history of self-harm. In August 2023, a psychiatrist recommended she receive treatment alongside her husband, as his absence caused her stress. The Supreme Court criticized a previous ruling by the Bombay High Court, which denied her bail. The justices emphasized that the high court misinterpreted the psychiatrists' recommendations regarding her care. The Supreme Court ordered that Gujar's husband take her to a designated hospital for her treatment regularly and set easier conditions for her bail.