The mysterious death of a 14-year-old girl who was staying at Kakkanad Children’s home in Ernakulam is raising suspicion. Demanding an inquiry into the death of the girl who was in perfect health, relatives of the child were protesting with the child’s body in front of the Kakkanad Children’s Welfare Commission Office. The relatives of the girl claim that the Child Welfare officer did not ensure the safety of the child and that was the cause of the child’s death. They further threatened to not let the body be buried until a proper investigation into the incident was taken. The relatives called off the strike after the Thrikkakara ACP approached them and assured them of an inquiry.
Today the postmortem of the child was completed but the cause of death cannot be ascertained without a detailed post-mortem report. Kochi ACP Aishwarya Dongra states that the initial investigation concludes that there is no mystery in the death. She further adds that pneumonia is likely to be the prime cause of death since medical records indicate that the child was suffering from shortness of breath.
On January 11, the child was found dead in the building of the Child Development Department in Pachalam. The child had been in the custody of the Child Welfare Commission since April 2019, following a complaint that the child’s father had abused her. The child was living at Matoor village in Aluva. The case was registered on April 18, 2018. Immediately, the child was shifted to Kakkanad Children Home.
