No food at home for 4 days, minor Dalit girl hangs herself in despair

Shahjahanpur: A fight over sharing of two rotis in an impoverished Dalit family of Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri district, which had no food at home for the past four days, prompted a 12-year-old girl, Jyoti, to hang herself on Friday. The girl’s mother, a labourer, had found no work in the past week and had not been able to feed her children.

On Friday evening, when the mother, Jagrana, 36, was out to find some work, a desperate Jyoti went to her neighbours begging for some food. When she got two rotis, she rushed back home in Nayi Basti area, to share it with her three siblings — Laxmi, 19, Mohini, 9 and 11-year-old Mohit.

However, a fight ensued over sharing the two rotis and the elder sister, Laxmi, left home in a fit of rage. The sight was too gloomy for Jyoti to bear, and she locked herself in a room and took the extreme step.

The fate of the once well-off farming family turned to the worse about eight years ago after the Sharda river, which flows nearby, changed its course and washed away their land. The parents had to become labourers.

Four years ago, the father, Chhote Lal, died of illness. Jagrana had been working as a daily wager since then. On Friday, she collapsed after reaching home and seeing her daughter hanging from the ceiling in their makeshift hut. Jyoti was rushed to a hospital but was declared brought dead by doctors.

On hearing the news, the district administration ordered an inquiry into the matter. Food and other items of daily use have also been provided to the distraught family. Sub-divisional magistrate Akhilesh Yadav said that he had given Rs 5,000 to the family from his own pocket.

Source: Times of India