An eight-month-old infant belonging to a Dalit community, died on Friday after her parents was allegedly prevented from taking her to the hospital by the police in view of the restrictions placed to facilitate the procession rally of KV Usha Charan, the newly-appointed Minister for the Welfare of Children, Women, Senior Citizens and the Differently Abled. The tragic incident took place in Kalyandurg, Anantapur district, Andhra Pradesh. The Opposition party - TDP - has termed the death as ‘murder committed by the Minister’ and has demanded her immediate suspension from the Cabinet. The newly-appointed Minister is the legislator of Kalyandurg. She had visited her constituency for the first time after becoming the Minister.
On Friday evening around 6.30 pm, the parents of the child – Ganesh and Easwaramma -- called for an ambulance after they found the baby to be suffering from seizure. According to the parents, the ambulance did not turn up as a procession led by supporters of Usha Charan was taken in Kalyandurg at the same time to celebrate her induction into the Cabinet, which had completely stalled vehicular traffic.
The couple later tried taking the baby to the hospital in an autorickshaw, but they were allegedly stopped by the police, in view of the restrictions. Eventually, the couple rushed the infant to Rural Development Trust Hospital in Kalyandurg on their two-wheeler. However, the infant was declared dead shortly after it was brought to the hospital. According to the medical case sheet, the baby died at 7.18 pm.
Alleging that the delay caused by the procession of the Minister resulted in the death, the family members and Dalit groups staged a protest with the infant's dead body near the Ambedkar statue in Kalyandurg on Friday evening.
TDP leader and former Minister Kalava Srinivasulu alleged that the police had aided the procession causing a traffic jam. “It is the primary responsibility of the police to ease the restrictions and help the people with medical emergencies, but they have failed in their responsibility which caused the death of an innocent infant,” he said.
Responding to the incident, former Chief Minister and leader of the Opposition, N Chandrababu Naidu questioned how the police could prevent the child from being taken to the hospital. “What do the police have to say about their actions which caused the death of a child with their arbitrary measures?”. Lashing out at Usha Charan, he said that she was celebrating her success with funeral drums.
అనంతపురం జిల్లా,కళ్యాణదుర్గంలో మంత్రి ఆర్భాటం కోసం పసిబిడ్డ ప్రాణాలు పోవడం తీవ్రంగా కలచివేసింది.ప్రభుత్వంలోని వ్యక్తుల సంబరాలకోసం ట్రాఫిక్ నిలిపివేసి పసిపాప చనిపోడానికి కారణం అయ్యారు.ప్రాణాపాయంలో ఉన్న చిన్నారి ఆసుపత్రికి వెళ్లడం కంటే మంత్రుల ర్యాలీలే ముఖ్యమని భావించడం దారుణం(1/2) pic.twitter.com/kns6aUqqvT
— N Chandrababu Naidu (@ncbn) April 16, 2022
Similarly, TDP general secretary Nara Lokesh termed the infant's death a ‘murder committed by the Minister and the police’. He said that it was ironic that the Child Welfare Minister's procession became responsible for the death of a child. He demanded that the government take action against the responsible police officials.
Meanwhile, denying the allegations of police restricting the couple from reaching the hospital, Anantapur Superintendent of Police, Fakirappa released a CCTV footage which showed the couple taking the infant to the hospital on their two-wheeler without being stopped by the police.