Patna: The family of the Jharkhand girl, Santoshi Kumari, who starved to death in Simdega district, have been forcefully removed from their ancestral home to Panchayat Bhawan, alleged the Simdega administration on Saturday.
Simdega deputy commissioner Manjunath Bhajantri told News18 that he was looking into the matter, before adding that Santoshi’s mother Koyali Devi had been shifted back to her house with security being provided to them.
“I received information this morning that one Taramani Sahu with her aides moved the family to a nearby Panchayat Bhawan. I don’t know why they did it. Soon after receiving information I sent a Block Development Officer and a policeman to persuade the family to move back to their house. They are safe and some policemen have been deployed for further security,” he said.
It was Taramani Sahu who first brought the matter of Santoshi’s death to the limelight. The 11-year-old reportedly starved for eight days and died on September 28 after being denied ration because her family’s ration card was not linked to the Aadhaar number.
Kumari’s family lives in abject poverty and was fully dependent on food grains entitled under the National Food Security Act. Her father is mentally disabled and her sister and mother, who are daily wage workers, earn about Rs 80-90 a day.
Santoshi was studying at a local school, where she used to get cooked lunch under the mid-day meal scheme but due to Durga Puja the school was closed.
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