Ran away at 14, lived on streets, sold into marriage; Delhi girl loses battle for life at hospital
New Delhi (PTI): She left her home at the age of 14 after a family dispute and ended up living on the street, picking rags to survive before being sold into marriage with a man from Rajasthan. But her ordeal came to light when she landed at a Delhi hospital, where she died after a 40-day battle for life.
The Delhi Police had recorded the girl's statement when she was undergoing treatment at the GTB Hospital has now registered an FIR in the matter, police sources said.
"Initially, we got to know that the girl, a resident of Dayalpur area had left her house after dispute with her family members last year. Her family members had never lodged a missing person report or approached the police," a police officer said, adding that she began living on the streets and picked rags to survive.
On October 24, a passerby noticed the girl lying in a critical condition in Haryana's Panipat and alerted the police. She was first taken to a local police station in Panipat and later shifted to Delhi, where she was admitted to GTB Hospital for treatment.
"She was extremely malnourished and suffering from multiple health complications when she was brought to the hospital," the officer said.
The source said after receiving information from the hospital, a team from the police station reached and recorded the statement of the girl.
She had levelled allegation that she was sold and forcibly married to a man in Rajasthan and she somehow managed to escape from there and eventually ended up in Haryana, the police source said.
"Despite sustained medical care, she could not recover and died on December 12," the source said.
"We have registered an FIR and have launched further investigation into the matter. The role of the parents and guardians is also under scrutiny. We are verifying claims made by relatives and examining whether there was any cruelty or abandonment that contributed to the condition," the source added.
Medical records and post-mortem findings have been sought to establish the exact cause of death, which is believed to be linked to prolonged illness and extreme weakness.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
