Two days after the death of three girls in Mandawali due to starvation, the Delhi Police has formed teams to trace the missing rikshawpuller father of the girls, a senior officer said. Following the incident, the Centre has ordered an enquiry into the death of the three sisters, including a toddler, while Delhi's Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said the deaths were due to "poverty and illness" and was the "biggest failure of the system".
During his visit to the victims’ house, he announced that the Delhi Government will provide financial aid of Rs 25,000 and treatment to the mother of deceased.
It was on July 24, when the emaciated girls aged two, four and eight were taken to lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital by their mother and a family friend where they were declared brought dead.
The girls’ father had left on the morning of July 24 for finding work and has not returned till the filing of the report. Police are on the lookout for him and he will be questioned in connection with the matter, police said.
Dr Sunil Kumar, Medical Superintendent, GTB Hospital, told The Pioneer that the second autopsy of all the sisters has been conducted at the GTB Hospital, however, the report has not been finalised yet and the real cause of the death will be confirmed after the reports come. The starvation death found a mention in Parliament with Opposition members expressing concern over the incident.
During the Question Hour in the Rajya Sabha, BSP leader Satish Chandra Mishra sought to know whether the Government had taken note of the serious incident. Minister of State for Planning Rao Inderjit Singh said the incident was a very "unfortunate".