A woman (21) and a girl (17), both inmates of Aasra, a government-funded short-stay home in Patna, have died under mysterious circumstances.
They were taken to the Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) on Friday night after complaints of vomiting, diarrhoea, and high fever, but the hospital authorities declared them “brought dead.”
Earlier, on Friday four inmates of the home at Nepali Tola of Chandra Vihar colony under Rajiv Nagar police station had tried to run away but when the local people raised an alarm they were caught and brought back.
The Social Welfare department had also conducted a surprise check at the home on Friday and had found several irregularities there.
It had also recommended that the home be shifted from the area.
On Friday night the two inmates are said to have fallen ill and taken to the PMCH. “When they were brought to the hospital they were already dead”, Rajiv Ranjan, superintendent of PMCH said. But the police were informed about the deaths on Sunday.
“We were informed of the deaths on Sunday morning by the shelter home employees. We’re waiting for the post-mortem report to know the exact cause of death,” Kumar Ravi, District Magistrate, Patna told journalists.
The home is managed by NGO Anumaya Human Resources Foundation and houses 75 inmates, most of them mentally challenged.
An employee of the home, Baby Kumari, has been taken into custody along with another woman. Manu Maharaj, Patna senior superintendent of police, said, “We’re investigating under what circumstances the two inmates died.”
Meanwhile, Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Vijay Prakash demanded a CBI probe.
“The police were not informed immediately. Nitish Kumar is busy with Lok Sabha seat-sharing talks...while, morality has gone for a toss,” said Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav.
However, ruling JD(U) leaders said law will take its course and “after the post-mortem report the cause of their deaths will come out.”