INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Possibility of the children starving in the nation's capital has caused shock among officialsNew Delhi: On Tuesday morning, a woman in
Delhi brought her three little daughters -- eight, four and two -- to a hospital, where doctors declared them dead
How did they die, the police asked the mother
"Give me food..," she mumbled, nearly collapsing.The three sisters had died of hunger, doctors reported after an initial examination
They hadn't eaten for eight days
On Monday night, they went into shock."When they were brought to me, it was shocking and heartbreaking to see that this happens in the
In my career of 15 years at a government hospital, never have I seen something like this," a doctor on the case said.The possibility of the
children starving in Delhi, which has the country's second-highest income, has generated shock and led to political sparring between the
capital's ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the BJP and the Congress
The AAP government has ordered a magisterial inquiry and the police said a second autopsy has been carried out.The family of five from
Bengal moved into Mandawali in east Delhi on Saturday with a friend of the children's father, say neighbours
Their father, a rickshaw-puller, has been missing since
Some neighbours said he had gone in search of work and would return in a couple of days
He had come to Delhi for work after his rickshaw was stolen.The girls' mother looked "mentally unsound", the police said.Two of the younger
sisters had been unwell for a few days, with bouts of vomiting and diarrhoea
It is not clear how the oldest girl, who went to school and should have been provided mid-day meals, also fell ill.A forensic team found
some medicine bottles and pills for diarrhoea inside the room in which the family stayed.Leaders of the BJP and the Congress visited the
family today and both targeted Delhi's AAP government."It is utterly shamefulI don't want to make it about politicsThe centre sends
subsidised food, it is the Delhi government's job to deliver it to citizens," said BJP's Delhi chief Manoj Tiwari.Congress's Ajay Maken,
after meeting the girls' mother, said: "Shocking to hear their story, the failure of the government and the system."AAP accused the BJP of
pointing fingers after blocking its scheme for doorstep delivery of services including ration.
