The thought of how she would survive alone with her three-month-old baby Razibul “depressed her no end”, Lalita Alexander, who was at the social service unit desk at the AIIMS trauma centre on Monday, told Newsline today.

The fear of an uncertain future, Alexander said, seems to have forced Biwi to commit suicide — a day after husband Aukhid Ali, 30, was run over by a Blueline bus in Nizamuddin area. “She was miserable all day — she kept telling me that every second person in Delhi stared at her and passed lewd comments,” Alexander said. “She was afraid that she would be sold.”

Nursing three-month-old Razibul, rechristened Goltu by the AIIMS staff, Alexander said the last 48 hours were a nightmare for Biwi, on her first trip to Delhi.

Recounting what Biwi told her in halting Hindi, Alexander said the couple arrived at the New Delhi railway station on Sunday afternoon. While Aukhid had been to the Capital eight years ago and worked in a factory on Sohna Road, it was Biwi’s first visit to the city. He came this time to settle here, and look for work. Even as they tried to find their bearing, their luggage was stolen and she was teased, Biwi told Alexander.

Then, the tragedy: husband Aukhid Ali was run over by a Blueline bus. Language soon became Biwi’s biggest barrier; she found it difficult to communicate with the police investigation into her husband’s death. This in turn delayed the postmortem.

On Monday, Alexander said Biwi left the AIIMS waiting room, next to the social service desk, sometime around 4.30 pm, little Rizabul in her lap. She told others that she was going to the toilet. When she did not return, Alexander sent a boy to check but the toilet door was locked and “Goltu was crying”.

“When security guards opened the door, she was found hanging. The baby was lying on the toilet floor,” Alexander said. “I gave him a bath and then changed his clothes…. He is so cute.”

Alexander has since spent most of her time with Goltu.

Biwi’s brother-in-law Mastul came to the hospital around 5 pm today, unaware that his brother and sister-in-law had died. “I was just informed that Aukhid had met with an accident,” he said, “but when I came here, both were dead.”

He is Aukhid’s younger brother and works in Industrial Area, Sohna. He was “not aware” that his brother, the oldest of six siblings, was coming to Delhi with family.

Mastul took custody of his nephew on Tuesday and was scheduled to leave for Bengal later in the night. “I will take my nephew home,” he said. “My parents are there to look after him.”