INDORE SHELTER HOME TRAGEDY: SIX KIDS DEAD, CLAIMS REPORT ALLEGING MISMANAGEMENT. WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR
A high-level committee which probed the deaths of five children in a shelter home—Shri Yugpurush Dham Bal Ashram—in Indore has submitted an interim report to the District Collector of the city. The report held the shelter home management responsible for hiding facts, including the death of a child, mismanagement in record-keeping and negligence in the treatment of children.
The five-member committee reviewed all the records, checked hygiene, questioned the shelter home director and other parameters at the facility to prepare the interim report.
Indore shelter home tragedy: What we know so far
- The interim report claims that the shelter homedirector concealed the death of a child and handed over the body to his family members without sending it for a postmortem or informing the concerned authorities.
- The shelter home management claimed that the eight-year-old died of epilepsy, but it could not be confirmed, the official said.
- The report also stated that the management had failed to maintain the children’s health history, and mismanagement was also evident in maintaining records of the entry/exit of inmates
- A total of 48 children from the shelter home, suffering from vomiting and diarrhea, are admitted to Government Chacha Nehru Children's Hospital and are undergoing treatment, hospital superintendent Dr Preeti Malpani informed.
- Seven children are in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and the condition of three of them is relatively serious, Dr. Malpani said
- Worms were detected in the children's stools during a general laboratory investigation. Another doctor said the situation would be clear only after receiving the stool culture report.
- The committee found unhygienic conditions in the facility.
- The probe also revealed that the shelter home had more children beyond its capacity, improper maintenance of medical records, and other irregularities in maintenance.
- The probe committee also reported that the children in the shelter home were mentally very weak and could not even narrate their ordeal.
- Doctors said they had examined about 150 other children housed in the Shri Yugpurush Dham Bal Ashram, and their condition was fine
- The institute has a total of 204 inmates, including orphans and those suffering from mental ailments.