Three minor sisters die of starvation in Delhi

Three sisters, aged between two and eight years, have starved to death in east Delhi's Mandavali, just 12 km from Parliament House.

Mansi (8), Paro (5) and Sukho (2) were taken to a hospital on Tuesday afternoon where they were declared brought dead.

An initial postmortem report suggested that they may not have eaten anything for three days since there were no traces of food or water in their stomaches.

Initially, officials said it was considered a case of natural death but the postmortem suggested that they died of malnutrition and starvation. They were taken to Lal Bahadur Shastri hospital after they were found lying unconscious in a pool of vomit by their mother, who is mentally unstable, and another person.

The family had moved to a single-room shanty in the area last Saturday. The father, Mangal, a rickshaw puller from West Bengal, had gone out for work on Tuesday but did not return till Wednesday night. Reports suggested that Mangal was out of work for the past two weeks after his rickshaw was stolen.

"We have ordered a magisterial enquiry into the incident. The children's father had gone out for work but has not returned. Their mother is mentally unstable," Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia tweeted on Wednesday night.

The postmortem report stated, "Liver, gallbladder, biliary passages: gallbladder is distended and filled with bile. Live pale in appearance. Spleen: Unremarkable. Kidney, renal pelvis and ureter: Pale. Urinary bladder: Empty. Rectum: Empty. Uterus: NAD...The cause of death is malnutrition/starvation and its complications."

Officials said a forensic team inspected the place where the family was staying and found some medicines for treating loose motion. The girls were unwell when they came to Mandavli and had bouts of vomiting and loose motion.

"The mother is mentally unsound and has not been able to tell the police what exactly happened to her daughters. The medicines found from the spot were bought from a mohalla clinic," PTI quoted a police officer as saying.

The incident led to a war of words between the ruling Aam Aadmi Party and the Opposition - the BJP and the Congress.

Delhi BJP chief and Lok Sabha MP Manoj Tiwari tweeted, "Three girls have died of hunger. This has happened in Manish Sisodia's constituency. In the national capital where AAP which champions the cause of the common man, people are dying of hunger. Shame on you (Delhi Chief Minister Arvind) Kejriwal (sic)."

Reacting to the incident, Delhi Congress president tweeted, "Questions arise: 1) eight-years-old- Did she go to government school with mid-day meal? 2) Did the family have a ration card? 3) Could the father not even get a job to stop his children from starvation? Answers to all the above questions are 'No'. This never happened during Congress regime (sic)."

AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj said the Delhi government is trying to implement the doorstep delivery of ration, but the BJP was against it.

"Facts - In January 2015 before Arvind Kejriwal became Chief Minister, there were 55 lakh ration beneficiaries. By next year there were 72 lakh beneficiaries. This top limit for Delhi is fixed by Centre. Delhi government has requested multiple times to Modi Govt to increase the quota for Delhi (sic)," Bharadwaj tweeted.