Where will Shankari, 6-year-old daughter of pregnant woman who died in Tumakuru, go now?

A photograph of the girl was sent to them, so they could confirm the identity of Kasturi and her daughter Shankari.

Kasturi, who was nine months pregnant with twins, died on Wednesday midnight at their residence after she was allegedly denied admission at the Tumakuru District hospital as she did not have “Tayi card” (mother card) and Aadhaar card.

She returned home and went into labour at night. Kasturi and the twins died after she developed complications during the delivery.

Full story: Traumatised girl sees mother die as hospital denies her admission

Bodies cremated in Tumakuru

Residents and local leaders in front of Kasturi’s residence in Tumakuru. They demanded immediate dismissal of the hospital staff who failed to admit the pregnant woman. (Supplied)

Shankar and Kasturi were natives of Thirukoyilur in Tamil Nadu. The couple, however, settled in Bengaluru near Old Airport Road, with Shankar’s elder sister’s family as neighbours.

“Shankar is my uncle. He is my mother’s youngest sibling. They are five siblings. Shankar first married my sister but then left her and married Kasturi, who was a widow and had a son from her first marriage,” said Prakash, who performed the last rites of the three bodies in Tumakuru on Friday.

That would make them cousins of Shankari, but she calls Shoba her aunt and Prakash and Ramesh her uncles.

“The couple had some marital problems, after which my uncle died by suicide. Later, my aunt Kasturi and her daughter left Bengaluru, and we didn’t know where she had gone until we received that call,” he added.

The bodies were handed over to the family members after postmortem after they established proof of their relationship by reportedly showing the Aadhaar card of their uncle and some family photos.

“We cremated the three in Tumakuru. We don’t know anyone else there. We did the cremation there with the help of police and other officials,” Prakash told South First.

Where is Shankari now?

Tumakuru’s District Child Protection Unit officer Pavithra RG told South First that the girl, now an orphan, is currently housed at a Balakiyara Bala Mandira (BBM) — a girl-child protection home — in Tumakuru.

She will be handed over to the family members only after a proper inspection, a site visit of the family’s home, and verification of documents.

“We have met her relatives, who have agreed to take them with her,” said Pavithra.

In case the relatives do not come forward to take her with them, she will be kept in Madivala’s BBM until she attains 18 years of age, she explained.

Can’t take care of Shankari, says aunt

Shoba and her brother-in-law Ramesh told South First that though they wanted to take Shankari home, what’s stopping them is that their economic status and the nature of their work make them stay out of the house for almost the whole day.

Shoba said, “I have two grown-up daughters, who can manage on their own. Shankari is only six years old. She also has delayed speech, and can only say a few words like amma, appa, and mama. There will be no one at home to take care of her, as we all go out for work and return home late in the evening.”

Ramesh told South First that they didn’t mind visiting the girl in the children’s home in Madiwala every week and taking care of her other needs.

“It will be difficult for us to provide education and also take personal care of her. Instead, if she is given education by the state government, we will be able to bring her home with us after her education is completed,” he said.

More to it than meets the eye?

Interestingly, Kasturi’s family members have not come forward to claim the bodies of either Kasturi or her children.

Meanwhile, the paternal relatives have allegedly informed the police that Kasturi and Shankar lost a baby a year and a half ago, when they tried to conduct the delivery on their own at their house in Bengaluru.

Prakash told South First, “Our aunt and uncle lost a baby girl a year and a half ago. The couple, even after we told them not to, decided to deliver the baby girl at home. She died at birth,” he said.

House where the pregnant woman and her two babies died during delivery. She went into labour at her house after she was turned away by Tumakuru hospital as she didn’t have ‘tayi card’ (Supplied)

Coincidentally, the hospital authorities said that Kasturi insisted on going back home and refused admission.

Sources from Tumakuru said that the police have also been trying to tell the only eyewitness, an old lady named Sarojamma who was a neighbour of Kasturi and who went with her to the Tumakuru district hospital on that fateful night, to say as much.

“The police are pressurising Sarojamma to give a statement that Kasturi wanted to go back home. Now, relatives are also taking the side of the police and are saying that Kasturi had done a similar thing earlier. It is not fair to make such allegations as both the woman and her husband are not alive now to disprove this,” said a source from Tumakuru.

Shankar’s family has allegedly told the police that they have no knowledge of where Kasturi’s family is.

Authorities take note

Meanwhile, Karnataka State Commission for Protection of Child Rights President K Naganna Gowda visited the hospital on Friday and sought a report from the doctors and the district health officer about the incident.

He said the hospital had to ensure the availability of an obstetrician and gynaecologists round the clock to attend to pregnant women and newborn babies.

He called the incident a “shame on our part” and said that the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights had been updated about the incident.

Health minister Dr K Sudhakar in Tumakuru, speaking to authorities after Kasturi and her twins died. (Supplied)

Meanwhile, Karnataka’s Health and Medical Education Dr K Sudhakar has announced that the government has made a fixed deposit of ₹5 lakh in the six-year-old orphan’s name.

The government will also take care of her properly, he said, adding that there would be a new law to fix accountability and punish misbehaving doctors and staff in government hospitals.

He told reporters, “If doctors and staff in government hospitals misbehave with people, they will be terminated from service. I will speak to the chief minister in this regard, and if need be, we will bring necessary amendments to laws in the next session of the Assembly.”

“Incidents like these must never be repeated again. In cases of emergency, hospitals should not insist on documents. Documents can be collected after attending the emergency. There are about 76 notified emergency services, and instructions are already in place to not deny or delay treatment in such cases. If treatment is not available in government hospitals, people can avail it in private hospitals also and govt will bear the cost,” he added.