Denied job, widow abandons children

A woman reportedly abandoned her children at the district medical and health officer’s (DM&HO) office at the district headquarters on Monday.

According to sources, Aruna Jyothi, a resident of a village in Narayanakhed area arrived at the Collectorate and requested Collector Smita Sabharwal for the post of a staff nurse, for which she had also applied earlier. The Collector directed officials of the medical department to check whether there was any possibility of accommodating her. Aruna came to the DM&HO office and enquired about her posting. The officials reportedly informed her that she was far behind in the merit list and they could consider her posting only if the Collector recommended.

Agitated over this, she left her two children aged three and half years and one year respectively at the office. “I myself find it a struggle to survive and my husband is dead,” was what she told officials before leaving the place.

The officials shifted the children to Shishugruha.

By evening, the case reached the Additional Joint Collector, B.S.V.V.S. Murthy. “The woman is very stressed and needs a helping hand. The Collector directed us to accommodate her in any suitable place so that the family does not collapse due to financial reasons. We are considering all options,” Mr. Murthy told The Hindu .

Late in the evening, Jyothi went back to her native place, leaving the children behind, saying she would take them back only after an order of appointment was issued by the district authorities, an official said.