Four infants die of 'cold' in govt children's home in five days, official suspended

Local officials, however have rejected the claim that the infants died of cold and said a thorough probe will reveal the cause of death

A magisterial probe was ordered into the death of four infants allegedly of 'cold' in the past five days at a government children's home in Lucknow. Another infant, aged about two month, was admitted to the hospital, where her condition was stated to be 'critical'.

Taking a serious view of the matter, the government on Thursday suspended the superintendent of the children's home and a magisterial probe was ordered, a senior official here said.

Also Read | As India debates demographics, Sikkim wants more babies

UP minister for child development Baby Rani Maurya however refuted reports that the infants had died of cold and claimed that they had been suffering from thalassemia and other diseases and were given all possible treatment at the hospital.

The officials also sought to reject the reports that the infants had died of cold and said that the cause of death could only be ascertained after a thorough probe. ''It is wrong to say that the infants were not provided proper medical care or were kept in poor conditions at the children's home,'' said an official here.

A doctor at Lucknow's Civil Hospital on Thursday said that the infants had been brought to the hospital in a critical condition and that two of them were later referred to the KG Medical University after their condition deteriorated further.

The officials said that a child specialist had been deployed at the children's home to monitor the health of the infants.