Parents booked over malnourished kid’s death (Lead)

December 16th, 2011 - 11:46 pm ICT by IANS  

Bhopal, Dec 16 (IANS) Police in Bhopal have booked a couple for causing the death of their two-year-old daughter who died of malnutrition six months ago, a statement said Friday.

Police registered an FIR against daily wage labourer Amarchand and his wife Laxmi Devi over the death of their daughter Swati.

The parents have protested the police move. “If we wanted to kill her, why would we have taken her to hospital for treatment? Since she died, the police have harassed us. The investigating officer demanded Rs.12,000 from us and we gave him Rs.5,000 as bribe. Despite this, they implicated us in our own daughter’s death,” Amarchand told IANS.

The police have defended their move. “We lodged the FIR on the basis of the post-mortem report which shows signs of injury on the body of the girl. Top officials have conducted the inquiry and nobody has taken any bribe,” police officer Santosh told IANS.

However, Leader of Opposition Ajay Singh vehemently criticized the police act and demanded an FIR be lodged against Health Minister Narottam Mishra and Woman Child Development Minister Ranjana Baghel instead of the parents.

“Because of the inefficiency of government and failure of system, hundreds of kids die in the state. Neither children are getting good meal in anganwadi centers nor getting treated well in nutrition rehabilitation centres,” said Singh.

“But to register a case against a labourer for the death of his daughter from malnutrition shows the pathetic condition of government,” he added.

Malnutrition is much higher in Madhya Pradesh than the national average. According to state government statistics, 60 percent of children in the state are underweight.

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