Alappuzha (Keralam), Oct 21 The death of a two-year-old boy allegedly due to severe malnutrition in this coastal Keralam district has raised questions about child protection measures, as repeated attempts by authorities since 2022 to rescue him and his siblings were unsuccessful due to parental resistance, sources said.
The child was found dead at his house on October 18. Doctors reportedly found that he was acutely anaemic and malnourished, weighing just 7.6 kg, compared with around 12 kg for a child of his age.
His parents, Rajesh and Thara, have five children, including a newborn who is barely a week old.
Another child of the couple had died a few years ago, allegedly after falling to the ground.
Child Welfare Committee (CWC) officials had made several attempts over the past four to five years to place the children in care homes. However, the parents would visit the children and take them away, promising to return them to the facilities, but never did so, sources said.
The family was also moved to Gandhibhavan, a care home, but the parents allegedly threatened to die by suicide, following which officials sent them back home.
When state Women and Child Welfare Minister Bindu Krishna visited the child’s house on Tuesday, local health workers, people’s representatives, CWC officials and an Anganwadi teacher said they had repeatedly tried to help the children by providing food and clothes. However, they alleged that the mother did not give the supplies to her children.
“She eats all the food we bring and gives nothing to the children,” they told the minister, demanding that the mother be sterilised to prevent her from having more children.
They urged the authorities not to return the remaining children, who are currently in the care of the CWC, to the couple.
The minister said she had spoken to the doctor at the government hospital where Thara had given birth and that the procedure could be carried out if the woman consented.
Krishna said a case would be registered against the parents of the deceased child.
“All existing schemes, including Mission Vatsalya, will be used to ensure child protection,” the minister said, adding that the child’s mother would also be given counselling.
“It is painful that there was no food in the child’s stomach at the time of death,” she said.
The minister said strict action would be taken to ensure the safety of the remaining children, including the newborn.
She said a list of children in similar circumstances would be prepared to prevent such incidents from recurring.
A state-level meeting would be held on October 23 to identify and protect children in similar situations, the minister said in a statement.
She added that the Home Department would be asked to register a case against the deceased child’s father.
(PTI News)
