Child rights panel files case over Keralam boy’s malnutrition death

A 2-year-old in Kerala died amid suspected malnutrition. Authorities are investigating possible neglect and have taken the couple’s four children into care.

A two-year-old boy died in a suspected case of malnutrition in the Alappuzha district of Keralam, officials said on Monday, with the Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights registering a case. The Child Welfare Committee has meanwhile taken the couple’s four children under its care amid allegations of parental neglect.

The deceased, Rahul, was the sixth child of Rajesh, an autorickshaw driver, and Thara, a homemaker who resided in a crumbling rental house in Karthikappally.

The two-year-old, found unresponsive by his father early Sunday at their home, was declared dead at a government hospital in Haripad. Another child of the couple had also died a few years ago, officials said, though no clear reasons were attributed to that death.

A senior inspector in Thrikkunnapuzha police station, where a case for unnatural death was registered, said a postmortem examination was conducted in Alappuzha following suspicions of negligence. “The autopsy report stated that the child was severely anaemic. He also weighed only 7.6 kg, significantly less than the average 12 kg expected for a child of his age. These findings indicate that he was not getting adequate nutritious food,” the officer said, adding that a histopathology test was conducted to identify the exact cause of death and the report is awaited.

CWC officials have taken the couple’s four children into their care while the mother, who delivered her seventh child last week, remains in a hospital with the newborn, officials said.

A statement by the KSCPCR said that it has sought explanations from the district medical officer, the secretary of Karthikappally grama panchayat, the district child protection officer and the integrated child development services supervisor of the panchayat.

Minister for women and child development Bindhu Krishna termed the death “extremely painful.” “It is particularly painful because the W&C department has intervened multiple times to ensure better care of the children. We even shifted them to a shelter home....,” she said.

Babitha Jayan, a district panchayat member in Alappuzha, said: “When the mother was recently pregnant with her seventh child, we shifted her and the kids to Gandhi Bhavan. They were being provided food and medical help. But within two weeks, they returned to their rental home.”

“When we tried to intervene, the mother threatened that she would die by suicide along with the kids. We were forced to take a few steps back,” she said.

The official also said that the parents refused to send their children to school and neglected them.

Home minister Ramesh Chennithala said that the family is from his constituency and the matter has come to his notice.

“If any assistance needs to be provided from the government’s side, we are ready to provide it. I have sent people there, including the concerned Tahsildar. After examining it, they have been asked to provide a report,” he told reporters.

A local ASHA worker said, “The mother would buy a packet of milk, add water to it and give a glass to the elder children, asking them to feed the two-year-old. Somehow, it was the responsibility of the elder children to feed their younger brother.”

Malnutrition and starvation deaths, particularly among children, are rare in Keralam owing to the state’s superior public health infrastructure and social standards. Keralam’s neo natal mortality rate of 5, as per the 2022 Sample Registration System report, is the lowest in the country. India’s average is 19.

Early child mortality rate (deaths below 5 years of age) in Keralam, as per the SRS report, was 9, the lowest in the country.

Vishnu Varma is Assistant Editor and reports from Kerala for the Hindustan Times. He has 10 years of experience writing for print and digital platforms and has worked at The New York Times, NDTV and The Indian Express in the past. He specialises in longform reportage at the intersections of politics, crime, social commentary and environment.Read More