Alirajpur (Madhya Pradesh): With two suspicious deaths within 43 days, Rajendra Ashram of Katthiwada in Alirajpur district has become the centre of controversy in the district these days. Two deaths in a short span are raising questions about the arrangements and methods of the ashram.
A 10-year-old girl, a resident of Dhakkapura, studying in Class V, and living in the ashram for the last seven years, committed suicide on Monday by hanging a cloth on the ventilator of the room.
As soon as information about the incident was received, family members and other people immediately reached the ashram.
Later, the administrative staff, along with collector Dr Abhay Arvind Bedekar and SP Rajesh Vyas, reached the site and tried to know the situation till late at night. Instructions were given to form various teams and conduct an investigation regarding the Ashram. Meanwhile, tribal organisations have raised questions about the arrangements of the ashram and demanded an impartial investigation from the administration.
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Earlier, one girl from the ashram committed suicide on August 6. After the suspicious death of the first girl, neither the district administration nor the ashram management conducted an in-depth investigation of the incident nor took any action against those responsible.
Owing to the negligence, within 43 days, a second case of death of a 10-year-old girl happened in the ashram.
After the second consecutive death of a girl in the same ashram in the district, collector Dr Abhay Arvind Bedekar and superintendent of police Rajesh Vyas, taking this incident seriously, decided to investigate in depth the entire system of running the ashram along with other points.
The FSL team has also reached the spot and is investigating. The collector has given instructions to form a team under the leadership of the district panchayat CEO and conduct an investigation.
Although even after 24 hours of the incident, the district administration officials have not been able to reach any conclusion in this incident, this time the incident is a challenge for the district administration.
Probe initiated
SP Rajesh Vyas said that the police received the information at 6 pm on Monday that a 10-year-old girl had committed suicide in her room. By the time the police reached the spot, some people from the hostel had taken her down. After taking action, the police sent the body for a post-mortem.
A panel of doctors conducted a post-mortem. The FSL team has been called from Indore, and the room has been sealed so that no one tampers with the evidence. Videography of the entire incident has been done.
Those who are working in the hostel are also being interrogated. The Child Welfare Committee has been informed to interrogate the children. Their officials will come and counsel the children, after which further action will be taken.
There are no CCTVs in the ashram. The trustees have been informed that CCTVs will be installed in the Ashram soon and efforts will be made to install CCTVs at another place like Ashram Hostel also.
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