Published Oct 19, 2026 | 10:20 AM ⚊ Updated Oct 19, 2026 | 10:20 AM
Rahul was found lying motionless. Though he was taken to a hospital, his life could not be saved.
Synopsis: The deceased boy’s father reportedly told the police that the child had choked on milk. However, a post-mortem examination at the Alappuzha Medical College Hospital revealed severe malnutrition and anaemia. There were no external injuries. Multiple agencies are now probing the death of two-year-old Rahul.
The child, son of autorickshaw driver Rajesh and Tara of Thaimoottil in Valiyakulangara, Karthikappally, died at his home on Saturday, 17 October, hours after his mother had given birth to her seventh child at Vandanam Medical College Hospital.
A comprehensive probe has been launched into the alleged malnutrition death of a two-year-old boy in Kerala’s Alappuzha.
The boy, Rahul, weighed 7 kg, below the expected 12 kg for his age. It is alleged that the toddler died of severe malnutrition and lack of proper care.
The child, son of autorickshaw driver Rajesh and Tara of Thaimoottil in Valiyakulangara, Karthikappally, died at his home on Saturday, 17 October, hours after his mother had given birth to her seventh child at Vandanam Medical College Hospital.
According to Rajesh, he took Rahul to the Taluk Hospital at Haripad after finding the boy lying motionless around 7.30 am on Saturday. Doctors at the hospital declared him dead on arrival.
The father reportedly told the police that the child had choked on milk. However, a post-mortem examination at the Alappuzha Medical College Hospital revealed severe malnutrition and anaemia. There were no external injuries.
The post-mortem findings indicated that inadequate food and care may have contributed to his death. Thrikkunnappuzha police have registered a case of unnatural death.
The family’s history has raised further concerns.
Another son had died earlier under circumstances that the family attributed to an accidental fall from someone’s arms.
The authorities were examining the family’s previous interactions with child protection agencies and the possibility of legal action against the father under the Juvenile Justice Act for alleged neglect.
Officials said efforts to ensure the children’s safety had been under way since 2022.
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The Child Welfare Committee (CWC) had previously taken four of the children into its care for about one-and-a-half years, but later returned them to their parents.
An attempt to take custody of the children was made again a week ago, but officials reportedly withdrew after the mother threatened suicide.
The family, originally from Karthikappally, had been living in a rented house at Thrikkunnappuzha with little contact with relatives.
Six months ago, they were found living in a makeshift plastic-sheet shelter by the roadside in Kumarapuram after rain damaged their house.
After residents and elected representatives intervened, the mother and children were moved to Gandhi Bhavan in Pathanapuram.
They returned to their ancestral home in Valiyakulangara after a few days.
Officials said the children had not been issued Aadhaar cards, though they made efforts to ensure government benefits continued to reach the family. They alleged that the parents had failed to provide the children with adequate nutrition despite repeated interventions.
Rahul’s four sisters, aged between three and eleven, have now been taken into CWC care and shifted to a safe facility. His mother and newborn son remain at Vandanam Medical College Hospital.
Rahul was laid to rest on the family property at Valiyakulangara on Sunday, 18 October.
(Edited by Majnu Babu).
