PATNA: An 11-year-old Dalit boy died of hunger at Mushahar Tola in Bihar’s Ara district on March 27, claimed a report put out by the CPI(ML). The report sought to link the alleged hunger death to the ongoing nationwide lockdown to contain the spread of coronavirus.
Although district officials claimed they were not aware of any such incident, a press release quoting CPI(ML) state secretary Kunal said the body died due to starvation. Kavita Krishnan, a Left-leaning human rights activist, tweeted about the incident on Saturday, alleging that the boy had been starving because of the lockdown.
Some CPI(ML) leaders visited the family after getting word of the alleged incident and arranged for ration.
The victim was the son of a daily wage labourer, who was out of work since March 21. Bhojpur DM Raushan Kushwaha said, “I got the municipal commissioner to ascertain the veracity of this claim. I was told that the boy had been ill for the last few days. His death had nothing to do with the supply of foodgrains.”