After reports of an old woman’s body being partially eaten by stray dogs at the holy place of Deval Ganagapur in Afzalpur taluk of Kalaburagi district emerged, Chief Executive Officer of Kalaburagi Zilla Panchayat Girish Badole rushed to the village on Tuesday, and about 20 abandoned people were shifted to the government old age home in Kalaburagi.
Mr. Badole met priests at the Dattatreya temple and enquired about the incident. The priests said the 68-year-old mentally unstable woman was left abandoned near the Dyamavva temple that falls on the way to Ganagapur sangam on Saturday. Since the area was dark, the death of the woman went unnoticed by people. It came to light the next morning and by that time, the woman’s body had been partially eaten by stray dogs.
Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Badole said that he has directed officers in the Department of Senior Citizens Empowerment to file a police complaint. He added that he has also directed the officers to take up an awareness campaign in and around Ganagapur so that abandoned senior citizens can take shelter in the State-run old age home in Kalaburagi.
“As per information I gathered, there is a practice of abandoning old people in the holy place of Ganagapur. The death was not noticed by anyone because of darkness. We will also take up an awareness campaign through leaflets, posters and banners in and around Ganagapur. We will publicise the contact details of officers who can be easily approached for getting into the government old age home in Kalaburagi. We will also take up a survey to identify abandoned senior citizens and bring them to the old age home,” Mr. Badole said.
To a question, Mr. Badole said that he will discuss with the Deputy Commissioner and explore the possibilities of opening a government old age home in Afzalpur or Ganagapur itself so that abandoned senior citizens can easily get shelter.
It was learnt later in the day that 20 abandoned people were shifted to the government old age home in Kalaburagi by Tuesday evening.
