5-yr-old girl dies of thirst, fainted grandma rescued
A five-year-old girl died of thirst, while her 60-year-old grandmother fainted when they were walking back to their house in a village in Jalore district from the elderly woman’s paternal house in Sirohi district in hot weather, police said on Tuesday.
Police rescued the elderly woman, who is now recovering in the government hospital at Raniwara town in Jalore district.
Station house officer of Raniwara police station, Padma Ram said that Sukhi Devi, along with her granddaughter Anjali, had gone to her paternal house at Raipur village in Sirohi district from her house at Dungri village in Raniwara region of Jalore district on Saturday. “They returned to their house in Raniwara on Sunday morning and took a shortcut route of 15 km through desert and hills instead of the 22-km-long route,” he said.
Sukhi and Anjali did not carry drinking water with them while departing for Raniwada on Sunday. “When they were passing through the deserted desert area of Raniwara region, Anjali started asking for drinking water from her grandmother, but both could not find drinking water anywhere,” said Padma Ram.
They met a shepherd on the way, but he refused to share drinking water with them, after which Anjali fainted and died in front of the eyes of her grandmother, who too fainted out of thirst, the police officer said.
Later, another shepherd saw them and informed the local sarpanch, who then informed the Raniwara police, Padma Ram said.
After getting the information, police reached the spot and provided drinking water to Sukhi Devi. Sukhi and Anjali were taken to the Raniwara hospital, where Anjali was declared dead due to dehydration and heart attack. Sukhi is undergoing treatment at the hospital, Padma Ram said. Probe revealed that the duo walked for 7km in 5 hours in difficult terrain and high temperature, he said.
Reacting over the incident, state BJP president Satish Poonia tweeted: Starvation, thirst and death are heavy on the political statements of CM, Rajasthan, Ashok Gehlot. It is the misfortune of Rajasthan that incompetent and corrupt Congress-led state government has transformed Rajasthan into a land of starvation, unemployment, chaos, mafia raj and crimes.
Congress spokesperson Archana Sharma said the incident is unfortunate as the grandmagranddaughter duo took that route which did not have water on the way, although matter would be probed.