Parents resisted rescue of malnourished child: Keralam Minister
Thiruvananthapuram: Keralam Minister for Women and Child Development Bindhu Krishna on Wednesday, October 28, said that authorities tried several times to rescue the two-year-old boy, who allegedly died due to severe malnutrition, and his siblings from their home in Haripad, but were unsuccessful due to parental resistance.
Krishna was replying to an urgent query by CPI MLA P Prasad during question hour seeking details of the incident and the steps taken by the government to prevent it from recurring.
The minister said that prior to the child’s death on October 19 in Haripad in Alappuzha district, authorities had made several attempts to rescue the children, but the parents refused to cooperate each time.
She said that officials of the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) had rescued the children once and took them to a rehabilitation home, but the parents took them back during the vacation, and the kids did not return.
Thereafter, family was taken to a Gandhibhavan, a rescue home, in Pathanapuram in Kollam district, following the intervention of Haripad MLA and state Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala, but the mother threatened to commit suicide and returned to their house with the kids the same evening.
Later, another attempt to rescue the children was made on October 6, but it too failed due to opposition of the parents, she told the House.
The minister said that the Women and Child Development Department takes strong measures to rescue such children, “but here there was the problem of resistance from the biological parents”.
“Following the incident, meetings were held and several schemes were formulated to prevent such situations. I would like to request the members of the House to identify such children in their respective constituencies who are in need of rescue. Everyone’s cooperation is required in the matter,” she said.
We can prevent such instances from recurring only through the coordination of all related departments, she added.
Prasad said that diet diversity was necessary and he also called for a detailed examination or inspection of the health and nutrition status of children across Keralam.
He questioned whether the government will consider formulating a new law or implement the existing laws to prevent such an incident from recurring.
Krishna assured that the government was taking all necessary steps to ensure the safety and nutrition of children and will continue to do so.
Chennithala also told the House that it was through his intervention that the family was moved to the Gandhibhavan, but they created a ruckus there by evening and left the place.
He said that steps are being taken to “settle” the family.
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.
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