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Police: 7-Year-Old Stable After Being Stabbed Repeatedly By Her Own Mother

NEW CITY, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- A 7-year-old Rockland County girl was said to be doing okay Friday after she was stabbed by her own mother before her suicide.

As police waited to hear from the child, herself, neighbors were struggling to deal with the shock and sorrow of it all, CBS 2's Dick Brennan reported.

Jaimini Amin said she can't make sense of what happened next door on Thursday.

"It is not possible. I was very sad and it was so unexpected," Amin said.

Police said Victoria Vovchik stabbed her little girl over and over again inside their house on Quarry Drive, and then killed herself. Incredibly, the little girl survived.

"She successfully made it through surgery and is in stable condition," Clarkstown police Sgt. Joanne Fratianni said.

The 45-year-old Vovchik was a podiatrist who had offices in Fort Lee and Montvale, N.J. Friends said she gave no sign of having problems.

"I'm not a professional, but in my eyes she was all right. She was a doting mother. She was a loving mother," Amin said.

The little girl's 68-year-old father, Dr. Kristappa Sangavaram, told CBS 2's Brennan by phone that "the girl is doing okay. I thank everyone for their prayers."

The child's father was not married to Vovchik. He had a wife in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., until she died last year.

Police said they still have to question the child about the incident, but when she gets better.

"She is the only eyewitness to the crime. It will be important what she has to say," Sgt. Fratianni said.

"Imagine what she will know, God bless her. I hope she remembers the good times and not what happened here," Amin added.

It's not clear when the child will be released from the hospital.

Clarkstown police would not comment on any possible motive in the case.

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