CHIKBALLAPURA: The district administration has been unable to trace details of Mahesh and Nagamani, the couple who were raising seven-year-old Venella, a child who died as she ingested soil, due to starvation.
On Tuesday, Chikkaballapura Deputy Commissioner P Anirudh Sravan, said that a detailed investigation into the antecedents of the family, who are living in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, revealed that the family did not have a voter ID or any other beneficiary card issued by the Karnataka state government.
“Even villagers in Gudibande said they are not in a position to identify them or recollect their stay there. This led us to believe that they might have migrated to Gudibande from another place. The Women and Child Welfare Department has submitted a report to the district administration and this was forwarded to the state Women and Child ministry,” he said.
The administration believes that the couple, along with Nagamani’s mother, their children and Venella, Nagamani’s sister’s child, migrated to Hamali colony of Kummaravandelapalli of Ananthpur district in Andhra pradesh in search of a job as they are quarry workers.
The couple’s son Santhosh Babu (3), had also died under similar circumstances as he had ingested mud three months back, due to starvation. Chandrappa, a resident of Gudibande village told The New Indian Express, that such migration was normal in the village as majority of people spoke Telugu and had links to Andhra Pradesh.