In what turned out to be a heart-rending story, two sisters — aged 8 and 3 — abandoned by their parents for days without food and water were rescued by police in Outer Delhi’s Samaypur Badli area.
They had been locked inside their home for days before neighbours alerted police. The officials broke into the house and found Himanshi (eight-year-old), Deepali (three-year-old) lying together on a dilapilated bed holding each other’s hand.
Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief Swati Maliwal met the girls and said the women’s panel will take care of them. “Met 2 little girls abandoned by parents. Hv deep wounds infested with maggot, were stinking. Such a shame. Parents shud b punished for this. DCW to ensure there upkeep. DCW counselors attending to girl. Spoke to @SandeepKumar ji n he has assured admission in residential school,” she said in a series of tweets.
“Police have registered a case under Sections 317 IPC (abandonment of child under 12 years by parents or guardian) and 75 of the Juvenile Justice Act. Once the girls are in better condition, we will produce them before CWC,” said DCP (Outer) Vikramjeet Singh.
Police teams have been formed to trace the parents. The girls’ father, Bunty, from Uttar Pradesh, used to work as a labourer and spend all his earnings on alcohol. He is currently unemployed.
According to police officials, the girls were starved for around a week. Himanshi had deep wounds on her head, which had turned into maggots.
Police personnel who went to rescue them noticed worms coming out of the wounds onto the cot. The house, they had been locked was stinking and was full of flies and mosquitoes. Police rushed them to Bhim Rao Ambedkar Hospital, Rohini, where they are under doctor’s observation.
Police said 35-year-old Bunty and his wife Rajni lived on the ground floor of house number 304 of the Nepali Colony with their three children. Besides Himanshi and Deepali, the couple has a 5-year-old son.
The preliminary investigation revealed that for the past some time, Bunty was jobless and had taken to drinking. The family barely met its both ends.
Frustrated over financial difficulties, Rajni left the home with her only son leaving behind her two daughters at the mercy of drunkard and jobless husband. Bunty didn’t work, instead, cursed the two girls for having born to him and didn’t provide the girls food.
Finally, on August 15, when the entire country was celebrating the Independence Day, he locked the two little girls to die of starvation and went away. Already starved for two-three days, Himanshi and Deepali were in extremely bad condition when the landlord and the neighbours sought help from police on August 19.
Officials said they not only rescued Himanshi and Deepali and took them to hospital for treatment, they launched a campaign at Samaypur Badli police station seeking donation for the girls. They donated and managed some money to buy food, clothes and toys.
Their 80-year-old grandmother has been tracked down by police; she lives in a home and has allegedly refused to take the girls. Police have asked the Child Welfare Committee to keep the girls in hospital until they have recovered fully, before arranging any shelter for them.