A child rape victim's mother had no money to cremate her, Bengaluru cops did the last rites

Moved by the grieving mother’s plight, Inspector Ramappa organised a fund collection to raise money to perform the child's last rites.

news Human Interest

First, it was the brutal rape of her 5-year-old daughter, then it was her death. But for the mother of this 5-year-old, there appeared to be no end to her grief as she was left with no money or resources to organise a funeral for her daughter.

The girl was allegedly raped by a man in Thalagattapura's Balajinagar on August 17. The incident, however, came to light only when the girl was taken to a hospital after she complained of tiredness.

The Thalagattapura Police received news of the girl’s death at St John’s Hospital on Friday night. The body was sent for autopsy and was to be collected by the family members on Saturday morning.

“The hospital bill came up to Rs 1.7 lakh and the child’s mother did not have the funds to pay. The hospital would not release the child’s body until the bill was paid,” Thalagattapura Police Inspector, Ramappa Gutther told TNM.

When the girl’s mother informed Ramappa about the difficulty in obtaining money for the hospital bill, Ramappa approached a private company in Bengaluru, which offered to foot the bill and the child’s body was released.

The mother’s problem did not end. She was unable to pay the charges quoted by the crematorium and approached the police with her problem.

Moved by the grieving mother’s plight, Inspector Ramappa organised a fund collection to raise money to perform the child's last rites.

“The poor woman did not have any money for her daughter’s last rites. When she told me about her plight, she broke down and began weeping. All the police personnel in Talagattapura station pooled in money they had in their pockets. We also approached an NGO, which also offered some money and we had Rs 10,000 which we gave to the woman,” Ramappa added.

Finally, the girl’s body was taken to the crematorium. The staff there first asked her if there was any male relative in the family, who could perform the last rites.

“The girl’s father died four months ago. The crematorium staff said that only a male relative could perform the last rites. The woman also wanted her daughter’s funeral to be conducted in the traditional way. But she did not have any family left,” Inspector Ramappa added.

The woman broke down and asked Ramappa to perform the child’s last rites. “It was done with the help of the staff there. According to the woman’s request, I performed the last rites as per Hindu rituals. We could not bear that she was so helpless,”

Meanwhile, Ramappa’s family were eagerly waiting for his return so he could join the Ganesha festival celebrations at his home.

“My family doesn’t know about it. They were expecting me to join the festivities but I could not go on time because I had to help the child’s mother,” Ramappa said.

Police said that the child was sexually assaulted on August 17 but the incident came to light when she was taken to a hospital after she complained of tiredness. The Police have arrested Chandana (40), the babysitter, and her friend Mallikarjun (33).

Two days after the incident, Chandana called the child’s mother and informed her that the girl was very tired. The child was taken to the hospital where doctors said that her condition was critical. As the child did not recover despite receiving treatment, her mother then took her to another hospital.

The situation did not improve and the hospital authorities suggested that the child be taken to St John’s Hospital. Doctors there examined the girl and found that she was sexually assaulted. Unable to respond to treatment the girl died on Friday.