KALABURAGI: Political rivalry between supporters of the BJP and Congress, in the backdrop of the recent Gram Panchayat elections, has allegedly claimed the life of a three-year-old girl in Kalaburagi on Saturday night.
The child Bharati was with her mother who is lodged in the central jail here in connection with the clashes that broke out. Following the girl’s death, Congress leaders and workers, led by MLAs Dr Ajay Singh (Jewargi), Kaneez Fatima (Kalaburagi-North), former MLCs Allamaprabhu Patil and Tippannappa Kamaknoor, and also the kin of the child, staged a dharna in front of the Gulbarga Institute Medical Sciences with the body from Sunday afternoon.
Speaking to The New Indian Express, Dr Singh said that they will continue their stir until the police department suspends Jewargi Police Sub-Inspector Manjunath Hugar for allegedly attacking Sangeeta, the mother, and the child too, which, he said had claimed her life.
The party has also demanded that compensation be paid to the parents of the deceased child.
Agitators end stir after SP promises action against SI
According to sources, the child’s uncle Santosh was a member of the Jainapur Gram Panchayat in the previous term.
He contested the polls from the same seat last month.
While he had the Congress’s support, his relative Raju contested against him with the BJP’s support and emerged victorious.
Raju’s supporters took out a procession in Jainapur and burst crackers in front of Santosh’s house.
Santosh’s family members, including the women, objected to the celebration, which led to a clash between supporters of the two parties.
Later, both Raju and Santosh filed complaints against each other, following which PSI Hugar allegedly went to Santhosh’s house and took his family members, including his sister-in-law Sangeeta and her daughter Bharati, into custody.
He allegedly manhandled the women in the police station, before shifting the mother and child to the Kalaburagi District Central Jail.
Sangeeta told reporters that the child was suffering from fever following the attack and said that she brought the matter to the attention of the police.
She also requested that the girl be taken to hospital, but they did not comply.
Due to this, the child died, she alleged. Meanwhile, Dr Singh questioned why the police has taken the child to jail in the first place.
Kalaburagi Superintendent of Police Simi Mariam George, Deputy Commissioner V V Jyothsna and Kalaburagi Police Commissioner Sateesh Kumar visited the spot and tried to convince the agitators to withdraw their dharna.
The agitators decided to withdraw their stir after the SP assured that the PSI will be suspended within 24 hours.
Inquest of the body was conducted in front of a judge, before the postmortem. Later, it was handed over to the family