Help pours in for four Erode siblings who lost parents

Response follows <i>The Hindu</i> report on their plight

R. Sivakumar, Superintendent of Police, Prohibition Enforcement Wing, Salem Zone, distributing assistance to two children and their grandmother at Kuttaiyur village in Bargur panchayat in Erode district on Friday.Photo: M. GOVARTHAN

In response to a report in

The Hindu, a trust and philanthropists have extended help to four siblings of Kuttaiyur village in Erode, who lost their father to alcoholism, and later their mother to illness.

The siblings, Akshita, 13, Rakshita, 9, Jeya, 8, and Mani, 3, lost their parents Puttappan and Sakhi a few years ago. While Akshita and Mani are staying with their mother’s sister at Devarmalai in Bargur Hills, Rakshita and Jeya are living with their 80-year-old grandmother Manjamma in a village in Bargur Panchayat Union in Anthiyur taluk.

The report “Girl who lost father to alcoholism pleads with villagers to shun liquor”, was published in The Hindu dated August 9 that highlighted their plight.

On Sunday, R. Sivakumar, Superintendent of Police, Prohibition Enforcement Wing, Salem Zone and J.J. Bharathi, founder of Selva Charitable Trust, offered to sponsor the education of all the four children till their college. “The family lost their bread winners and we will take care of their education needs,” they said. A philanthropist in Chennai, who does not want to be named, is willing to provide monthly assistance of ₹2,000 to the family.

Collector C. Kathiravan said all the children can be admitted in a government school at Anthiyur and hostel accommodation provided.