A three-month-old girl today died allegedly due to dehydration after her mother took her along to a state government programme for distribution of pensions and interest-free loans in Nizamabad district.
Police dismissed reports that the child was killed in a stampede during a Rachabanda programme at Machareddy mandal and said baby Moksha died "due to dehydration" and claimed that her mother Renuka did not breast-feed her.
The woman, belonging to Bhavanipet Thanda (hamlet) in Nizamabad, had taken her baby to the Rachabanda programme, though, she was not a beneficiary, a senior police officer said adding around 5,000 people attended the event which also saw participation from state Minister for Major Irrigation P Sudarshan Reddy and senior district officials.
"It is natural that with participation of so many people there is some suffocation at the venue. As per preliminary investigation it was found that the baby which was prematurely delivered, was suffering from heart ailment and had undergone treatment for the same," the police officer said.
"The baby's condition was very weak and her mother too did not breast-feed her and only after the event was over the woman realised that the baby was not responding and took her to a nearby hospital and later to a hospital in Kamareddy where doctors declared her brought dead and it seems the baby died enroute," he said.
Following allegations, police investigated the matter and registered a case of suspicious death. The post-mortem report indicated that the death was due to dehydration, the police officer added and dismissed reports of stampede.
Distribution of pensions, interest-free loans, women and farmer loans are some of the components of the Rachabanda programme of the state government.
