Ghasipura: A few days after Orissa Post published a report on the malnutrition-related death of a minor tribal girl Chumuki at Bamphidi in Keonjhar district, the administration has started a probe and is allegedly trying to attribute her death to tuberculosis.
Taking gravity of the incident, a team of Orissa State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (OSCPCR) visited the bereaved family Thursday at the district headquarters hospital.
A day after the news report, the administration had sprung into action. Following a directive from the collector, district social welfare extension officer Bijay Laxmi Ray Guru, ADMO of Anandapur Kulamnai Barik and Ghasipura child development project officer Satyabhama Sethi rushed to Bamphidi and admitted Nakula Naik (Chumuki’s father), his wife Jhuna Naik, their 8-year-old daughter Basrha, five-year-old daughter Lovely and one-and-a-half-year old son Akaksh to the district headquarters hospital.
The officials had assured that Lovely and Barsha would be rehabilitated in a residential school.
The secretary of OSCPCR Nibetita Mishra along with some members took stock of the condition of all the family members at the DHH. Talking to media persons, Mishra said the reason of Chumuki’s death was not malnutrition but tuberculosis.
However, locals sought to know how the panel could know that the child had died of tuberculosis without conducting any pathological tests. They have refused to buy the ‘theory’ of the commission.
This correspondent had access to medical reports of the deceased, who had earlier been admitted by her family members to Sainkula community health centre. In her outdoor ticket (3085) dated April 17, 2017, a doctor treating her stated that she was suffering from fever for three days.
Nukula was being treated here for tuberculosis. It is stated that the doctors suspected Chumuki to have contracted TB from her father and suggested for tests.
However, the family members had left the hospital out of fear without conducting tests. Chumuki had died May 1 while her post-mortem was not conducted.
Nakula and his family had been going without food for some days till a cousin found them in a miserable condition in his shanty. Earlier, Nakula begged for alms to feed his family. PNN