Probe ordered into starvation death of Jharkhand girl

The girl’s mother had said in a statement that the 11-year-old died due to starvation as the family did not get food grain from the ration shop as their card was not linked to Aadhaar.

Google Maps image locates Karimati village in Jharkhand’s Simdega district.

Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das on October 17 ordered a probe into the death of an 11-year-old girl in Jharkhand’s Simdega district allegedly due to starvation.

The girl, a resident of Karimati village of Simdega district, died on September 28. The death came to light after it was reported on October 15 by an organisation working on food security related issues. The girl’s mother had said in a statement that her daughter died due to starvation as the family members did not get the food grain from the Public Distribution System shop as their ration card was not linked with the Aadhaar card .

 

According to reports, the mother said the girl died crying “ Bhat, Bhat ”. Bhat means cooked rice in the local language. Mr. Das on October 17 visited Simdega and spoke with the Deputy Commissioner of the district. The DC informed that the girl died due to malaria and not starvation. Mr. Das announced ₹50,000 to the family of the girl as relief. He also directed the DC to look personally into the issue and submit a report.