A seven-month-old baby girl died at Kalyandurg on Friday night after being unable to get timely treatment allegedly as a result of the district police personnel regulating traffic and barricading all the entry points for the victory convoy of the Women and Child Welfare Minister Usha Sricharan.
Hailing from Cherlopalli village in Shettur Mandal of Anantapur district, a differently-abled person Ganesh and his wife Eerakka were rushing their baby, Pandu, to the RDT Hospital in Kalyandurg Town on Friday evening, but their autorickshaw was stopped by the police personnel and they were asked to take the girl by any other means. As the police personnel did not relent, the baby was carried on a two-wheeler to the hospital at 7.20 p.m. only to be told that it was too late to save her.
The family members then sat on a dharna on the roads before the newly-appointed minister’s convoy was scheduled to enter, but were forcibly evicted by the police. All public transport and other vehicles were allowed only from the outer bypass of the town as the Minister’s “Victory convoy” was coming from Anantapur to Kalyandurg to reach her residence.
When contacted, Superintendent of Police Fakkeerappa Kaginelli told The Hindu that they had not stopped anyone from entering the town contrary to the claims made by the affected family and videos emerging from the dharna spot in the night. “The convoy entered at 8.00 p.m. and this baby was brought at 7.18 p.m. so no one was stopped from entering the town and there was no mistake of the police personnel,” the SP added.
Meanwhile, the media personnel, from Anantapur themselves found it difficult to exit the town as there was no public transport available till the outer ring road.
The incident has taken place nearly two years after Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy set an example when the Chief Minister’s convoy gave way to an ambulance near Gudapalli in September 2020. The ambulance was carrying a victim of an accident who needed immediate medical attention.
Telugu Desam Party Anantapur Parliamentary District president Kalava Srinivasulu condemned the inhuman incident and demanded an immediate inquiry.
TDP national president N. Chandrababu Naidu also strongly criticised the incident on Twitter, asking who will take the responsibility for the child’s death
Activists of the TDP frontal organisation Chandradandu led by Prakash Naidu organised a dharna at the Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Statue in Anantapur demanding immediate dismissal of the police personnel responsible for the incident and suo motu action from the National Human Rights Commission.
