Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (RJP)
Updated: May 21
Mangaluru, May 21: The head of the poverty-stricken family, where two little children looked after their sick parents, has breathed his last.
Srinivas (38) from Kakkebettu, Kalpane is the person deceased. The end of Srinivas came on Wednesday at Wenlock hospital where he was taking treatment. Srinivas was paralysed for some time.
The family of five which lived in a single house is no more there now. The breadwinner has left this earth. His mother is too old, Wife is in critical condition in hospital and children are in the rehabilitation centre.
Daijiworld had published the story of Srinivas and his family on Wednesday May 20. The family of five Srinivas, his aged mother, wife Mallika and two boys aged 6 and 4 had a horrific time in the recent past.
The little children looked after their sick parents and grandmother for three days until they were rescued by Childline on Tuesday, May 19.
The little children cared for the elders with whatever was available for three days without any help. As soon as the news was published, Daijiworld had received deluge of messages , mails and phones with a request to help the family.But as Srinivas and Mallika were in critical conditions, communication with them could not be established.
Heart-touching end
The little children were brought to the hospital to see their parents on Wednesday. But as the father was unconscious, he could not see them. But the children who watched the pains of their father cried without knowing what to do. Then the children were taken to the mother who also could not respond.
Afterwards the children were taken back to the rehabilitation centre where they are presently looked after. But later in the evening after three hours of this incident, it was learned that Srinivas was no more.
History of the case
Srinivas had been paralysed for some time and was on treatment. His wife Mallika (32) who looked after him and their children too fell sick on an unfortunate day and was unable to move around. The family lives at Kakkebettu, Kalpane. The couple's two little children, both boys, are aged only 6 and 4. The elder son goes to an Anganwady while the younger one is yet to start school.
After the mother also fell sick, there was none to go to. Phone calls to relatives did not help. The children started looking after their parents. There was nothing to eat, but the elder boy got some food powder from the Anganwady. He added water to the powder and fed his parents and brother. That was the nourishment for the family for three long days.
Ultimately, help came after some neighbours phoned the women and child welfare department and the Childline, and rescue teams from there arrived to help the family.
When the Childline help arrived, the children were seen feeding the mother with tender coconut. They had themselves plucked the tender coconut from a small coconut tree nearby. The father had fallen from the bed and was trying to reach and get back on it. Grandmother of the children was seen crying endlessly as she was too old to anything.
The parents were then taken to Wenlock hospital and the children were rehabilitated by the department.
The rescue team included child welfare officer Gulabi, teachers Malathi, Roofina, childline officer Sampath Katti, Revathi, Nagaraj Panakaje and the locals.
Srinivas was working as a labourer for a liquor company in the past. Yet he managed to build a small house of his own. After he was paralysed, his wife Mallika was very much disturbed and depressed due to husband's ill health and financial conditions.
The children have been handed over to their uncle Prakash, brother of Mallika.
Officials at Padil Childline said that a joint bank account in the name of the children and uncle Prakash may probably be opened.
Speaking to daijiworld, Prakash said that Srinivas had been admitted to hospital in March and later discharged, and had even resumed work as a coolie, but due to high BP, he had become paralysed recently.
"Her sisters used to visit the couple's house in Kalpane. Last Friday her elder sister called Mallika on phone but she did not saying anything about her illness. I had even taken Mallika to my home when she was ill in the past, and after recuperating she wanted to come back home to Kalpane," he said.
Srinivas' late brother's wife Dhanavanti said that she was unable to take of the family as she herself was in a poor conditon. "After my husband passed away, I have been working and looking after my two children. I used to visit their house but we did not know about their condition in the last few days. A neighbour in the colony called my sister to inform, and that is how I came to know," she said.
She also said that the media had wrongly projected that there were no relatives to help the kids. "We are all there to look after the children. It is wrong to say that no one is there for them," she said.
"Srinivas had high BP because of which he was paralysed. I visited him when he was admitted to hospital in the past. My condition is also bad and I am struggling to look after my kids," she added.
Note: Faces of children blurred upon request by Childline
Daijiworld has been flooded with calls and enquiries from all around the world for helping these needy kids and the family. Due to their present situation, it has not been possible to get the bank account details of any family member. We do not encourage publishing bank account details of anyone other than the beneficiary.