Starvation deaths "reprehensible: Harsh Vardhan

Union Minister Harsh Vardhan today termed the deaths of three minor girls due to starvation in east Delhi's Mandwali area "reprehensible" and blamed the AAP government for allegedly not addressing basic issues of people.

"The incidence of #StarvationDeaths of three sisters in Mandavali is reprehensible. It is the result of failure of #AAP government to address basic issues of people of Delhi. Where have all the welfare funds gone, if it is not reaching the beneficiaries? @BJP4Delhi, @BJP4India," the Minister tweeted.

Three sisters were found dead in east Delhi's Mandawali area with the initial post-mortem report hinting that it was a case of starvation, prompting the city government to order a magisterial probe into the matter.

The girls, aged two, four and eight, were brought to a hospital by their mother and a friend on Tuesday and the hospital authorities informed police about their deaths.

The girls' father, a casual labourer, is missing since yesterday, though locals had said he had gone in search of work and would return in a couple of days. The girls' mother is not "mentally sound" and told police that she did not know what happened to her daughters and how they died.

The initial post-mortem report said that the girls died due to "malnourishment/starvation and its complications.

A second autopsy was conducted at GTB Hospital that found no injury marks, with doctors saying "It looked like a typical case of malnutrition, dishevelled, monkey-like face, no trace of fat in the bodies.