Third starvation death alleged in Jharkhand in a month

DUMKA: A third death, allegedly due to starvation, was reported since September 28 in Jharkhand late on Monday. Ruplal Marandi (64) allegedly died of hunger in Thadiyara village in Jharkhand's Deoghar district.

Marandi's family members and neighbours said he had been unable to walk after fracturing one of his legs in an accident some months ago. They all stressed Marandi had been deprived of food for the last few days.

Marandi's family of three, including his daughter Sanodi Marandi, was refused subsidised foodgrains by the local PDS shop as Sanodi's thumb impression did not match with the biometric records, according to reports.

"Nothing could be cooked at our home for the last couple of days as we had no foodgrains," Sanodi said. Hembrom, a retired teacher, also said Marandi's death had been "caused by starvation."

The BJP government in Jharkhand has been facing growing controversy over hunger deaths in the state after 11-year-old Santoshi died on September 28 in Simdega after her family's ration card was cancelled. Last week on Friday, 45-year-old Baijnath Ravidas, a rickshaw puller from Jharia in Dhanbad, was reported to have died of starvation. District administration officials blamed prolonged illness, for his death and allowed cremation without conducting an autopsy.

In Marandi's case too, the officials rejected claims that he had died of hunger. Mohanpur block development officer Ashok Kumar said the family had procured subsidised foodgrains from the local PDS shop for September. "There is no question of Marandi having died of hunger," Kumar said Deoghar deputy commissioner Rahul Kumar Sinha set up an inquiry team to ascertain the cause of Marandi's death.