Police exhume body of baby starved to death in Medak

HYDERABAD: The Medak police reopened the case of a six month old baby who died on February 8th at a factory work site following the refusal of the labor contractor to allow the lactating mother to feed her baby.

Following human rights interference, the Medak district police today exhumed the body of the baby from a burial ground in Narsapur of Medak district on Wednesday, who allegedly died of starvation on the intervening night of 8 February as the contractor refused to allow his lactating mother a daily wager - to feed the baby at work place.The body has been sent for autopsy and post mortem and ascertain the cause of baby's death.

Police also booked a case on Monday under 304A (Causing death by negligence) and have launched a man hunt for the contractor who is absconding.The police are also suspecting that the boy might be sick as there empty medicine bottles strewn around the burial site.

According to Narsapur police, the heart rending incident took place at the site of the Emmennar Pharma Private Limited located at Turkalakhanapur in Hatnoora mandal. But the incident was kept under wraps till now and finally became public on Sunday when revenue officials were probing the death of the infant on directions of state human rights commission .

M. Malleswari 30, mother of three minor girls and the baby boy, had joined work at the Pharma factory under a contractor, Dharma Raju. She had left behind her baby in the temporary shack nearby,provided for temporary workers. The contractor refused to permit her to go out and feed the baby for about two hours. “My daughters came running saying that their brother was crying inconsolably, but the contractor wanted me finish the work,” she told police.

The baby kept crying for an hour but the contractor refused to allow her to feed the baby. When the baby finally stopped crying, the tense mother rushed to the shed only to find the child lifeless. “The contractor then took us in a van to a hospital where he was declared brought dead and later the body was taken to a burial ground and buried my son near Narsapur, 10 km away. I was not even allowed to have a last look,” she rued.

After her baby's death Malleswari went home in her native place in Mahbubnagar and where she informed the revenue and labor officials , alleging that the contractor is threatening her of dire consequences if she files a police case. Taking a serious note of the incident district labor and the Revenue officials filed suo motu case against those involved in the tragic incident including the factory management and the labor contractor