Starvation death: Victim’s mother thrown out of village

According to reports, the locals accused Koyli Devi of defaming the village. The scared woman later took shelter in the panchayat building. The Simdega district administration has asked the local officials to look into the matter. 

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 grains from the Public Distribution System (PDS) shop as their ration card was not linked with the Aadhaar card. 

The Simdega district administration has so far maintained that the girl Santoshi was suffering from malaria and died due to her ailment. The state’s health department has, however, rubbished the claim. 

Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das, who visited Simdega on Tuesday, sought a detailed inquiry report from Deputy Commissioner Manjunath Bhajantri in the alleged starvation death. The state government has after the girl’s death announced that food grains can be procured from the PDS shop by showing the ID proof.