AMN / NEW DELHI
The tragic death of the three little sisters in the Mandwali area of national capital due to starvation Tuesday has not only jolted the people governing the system but also the conscience of common man across the country. It reflects to the failure of systems and schemes which were meant to address a case like such starvation.
Mansi and her sisters, Shikha (4) and Paro (2), were found dead on Tuesday at a house they had temporarily moved into three days ago. According to the post-mortem, the three had died of malnutrition/starvation and its complications. A second post-mortem report has confirmed death due to starvation and that there was no trace of fat on their bodies.
Police Thursday intensified efforts to locate their father, who has been missing since the three bodies were found. Delhi government sources also said that they were probing how three girls of different age died at the same time.
According to reports on Tuesday morning, a woman in Delhi brought her three little daughters – eight, four and two – to a hospital, where doctors declared them dead. How did they die, the police asked the mother. “Give me food..,” she mumbled, nearly collapsing.
The three sisters had died of hunger, doctors reported after an initial examination. They hadn’t eaten for eight days. On Monday night, they went into shock. A second autopsy has confirmed that they had starved to death.
“There was no trace of fat on their bodies. Postmortem showed the stomach was absolutely empty. It’s a case of gross malnutrition,” said Amita Saxena, Medical Superintendent, Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital.
“In my career of 15 years at a government hospital, never have I seen something like this,” another doctor on the case said.
The children’s starvation death in the capital city, which has the country’s second-highest income, has generated shock. The government has ordered an inquiry into the deaths, union minister Ram Vilas Paswan said today.
The family of five from Bengal moved into Mandawali in east Delhi on Saturday with a friend of the children’s father, say neighbours. Their father, a rickshaw-puller, has been missing since. Some neighbours said he had gone in search of work and would return in a couple of days. He had come to Delhi for work after his rickshaw was stolen. Police have formed teams to look for him.
Leaders of the BJP and the Congress visited the family and both targeted Delhi’s Aam Aadmi Party government.
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, who had retweeted a message by Sisodia yesterday in which the latter had said he would visit the family on Thursday, did not offer any comment on the issue.
However, Sisodia visited the family and later admitted that the system has failed. He said a magisterial probe has been ordered.
“It is utterly shameful… I don’t want to make it about politics… The centre sends subsidised food; it is the Delhi government’s job to deliver it to citizens,” said BJP’s Delhi chief Manoj Tiwari.
Congress’s Ajay Maken, after meeting the girls’ mother, said: “Shocking to hear their story, the failure of the government and the system.”
The AAP accused the BJP of pointing fingers after blocking its scheme for doorstep delivery of services including ration.
#StarvationDeaths
Just met the mother of three children!
Shocking to hear their story, failure of the Government and the system.Family didn’t have the Ration-Card,
Eldest girl studied in a Govt School supposed to provide Mid Day Meal,
On papers (only) we have Aam Aadmi Canteen pic.twitter.com/JzATbMtv9u— Ajay Maken (@ajaymaken) July 26, 2018
विश्व की सबसे बड़े लोकतंत्र की राजधानी दिल्ली में भूख के कारण तीन बेटियों की मृत्यु होना न सिर्फ दुखदाई व चैकाने वाला हादसा है परंतु यह घटना दिल्ली में आम आदमी पार्टी की सरकार और केन्द्र में भाजपा की नेतृत्व वाली सरकार की कार्यप्रणाली पर प्रश्न चिन्ह लगाते है। @ajaymaken pic.twitter.com/OOW2t9NGr1
— Delhi Congress (@INCDelhi) July 26, 2018
3 बेटियों की मौत वो भी भूख के कारण…@msisodia ये आपके एरिया में हुआ है …देश की राजधानी दिल्ली में @AamAadmiParty की सरकार में आज भी आम आदमी की भूख के कारण मौत हो रही है ..
शर्म करो @ArvindKejriwal— Manoj Tiwari (@ManojTiwariMP) July 25, 2018
मंडावली में तीन बच्चियों की मौत की घटना की मजिस्ट्रेट जांच के आदेश दिए हैं। यह परिवार दो दिन पहले ही मंडावली में एक मकान में रह रहे किराएदार के यहां मेहमान आया था।
घटना के पहले से ही बच्चियों के मजदूर पिता काम पर गए थे जो लौटे नहीं हैं। मां भी पहले से मानसिक बीमार हैं।— Manish Sisodia (@msisodia) July 25, 2018