3-yr-old suffers burns at Anganwadi

Medak: Burn injuries found on the body of Bhargavi, a three-year-old baby girl by her parents after she came home from Anganwadi School in Fatehnagar on November 3 has shaken the conscience of the district administration.

Even before the complaint was filed by the parents of the victim, the media went into a tizzy and scrolling was done on the local television channels without even ascertaining the facts of the case.

Thanks to the relatives of Bhargavi who were in the media.Allegations and counter-allegations between the girl’s parents and the Anganwadi staff (teacher and helper) which continued till the evening, took the form of a compromise between the two parties.

However, a complaint was filed by Bhargavi’s mother by 7.50 pm in Medak Rural police station. As the two parties approached the police station for a compromise the next morning, Sai Eshwar Goud, Circle Inspector of Police, refused to quash the case and filed Section 34 of IPC (joint liability, in doing the criminal act with common intention) and Section 75 of Juvenile Justice (care and protection of children) Act of 2015 against the Anganwadi staff.

There have been conflicting perspectives as to who the culprit is. The parents say that the mother of the baby had gone to collect her grandmother’s old-age pension, when the baby was picked up by the Anganwadi helper.

The father says that he had to bring back the baby home to do potty service and feeding the baby before dropping her back at the school which is located close to their residence. However, the mother who is the complainant, failed to mention that in her complaint.

As there was no toilet facility in the centre, the babies were usually sent to their homes so that they could be cleaned-up by their parents after potty. This is against the job description of an Anganwadi helper.

However, due to no toilets at many centres, babies are briefly sent home to their parents during the school-time to get cleaned-up. This has led to speculations that the baby could have also been inflicted injuries probably by her father, as Bhargavi’s parents quarrel a lot, according to the neighbours.

It was also found that babies in the Anganwadi centre in question are beaten-up. This was disclosed by an eight-year-old boy living in the same lane, who said that the beatings used to be mild and not severe.

The Anganwadi teacher who has been running the school for the past 10 years has never received a single memo in her career and is currently in trauma due to the police complaint and a show cause notice received by her from the higher-ups. She maintains that she could never imagine causing such injuries to a baby.

The Anganwadi helper wasn’t available on Saturday, but The Hans India found out that she was a widow whose father too had gone missing (probably became a destitute) a year ago. She has a daughter who denied the allegations.

The Anganwadi centre is run in a small rented portion right outside the compound wall of the owners of the house. There are only 2-3 children who are left by their parents in the school each day.

Another room is under construction within the owner’s compound to be given out to Anganwadi centre and the workers building the room have been working even on the day of the shameful incident. The workers don’t recall any baby crying while they were working.

According to CI Saieshwar Goud, it was the helper who was the culprit and therefore the teacher was also held responsible for the act. The baby was sent by the police to Hyderabad for forensic analysis, but the forensic experts refused to perform it because of the tender age of the baby.

When it comes to compromise or settlement between the two parties, it is a shame that we still live in a world where a little girl's tragedy becomes an opportunity for extortion for her own parents.