Indian National Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, on Wednesday, attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party government over children receiving blood transfusions in a hospital and the blood testing positive for HIV, and Hepatitis B and C.

Kharge claimed that “innocent children suffered the punishment for an unforgivable crime committed by the saffron party”.

Infected blood was allegedly transfused to 14 thalassemia patients in a government hospital in Kanpur. As a result, the children developed dangerous infections such AIDS and Hepatitis B and C. “It is said that there has been such egregious neglect,” Kharge remarked on X.

In a startling development on Monday, the state-run Lala Lajpat Rai Hospital in Kanpur Nagar discovered that 14 youngsters receiving blood transfusions tested positive for HIV and hepatitis. The doctors claim that in addition to thalassemia which initially requires blood transfusions, the youngsters now face an increased danger of suffering from another disease.

The 14 children, who range in age from 6 to 16 years, are among the 180 thalassemia patients receiving blood transfusions at the centre, according to officials. Seven of the afflicted children tested positive for HIV, five for Hepatitis C, and five for Hepatitis B.

The children are said to be from different districts, including Kannauj, Kanpur Nagar, Kanpur Dehat, Farrukhabad, Auraiya and Etawah. Under the Viral Hepatitis Control Programme, district-level officials will identify the source of the infection. According to an official, the team will search for the site of infection for both HIV and hepatitis.