'If we reached early, she'd have been alive': Parents blame Bharat Bandh for 2-year-old's death in Bihar; officials reject claim

A two-year-old child died on her way to the civic hospital in Bihar’s Patna while Bharat Bandh was underway. According to the father of the child, vehicle carrying her got stuck in road blockade by Bharat Bandh supporters on Monday. The father also alleged that he did not get any ambulance at first which led to the delay. The child had high fever since Sunday night. Senior district officers, however, maintained that the death of the child was not related to bandh or traffic jam. “The relatives had left late from their home,” said SDO Jehanabad Paritosh Kumar on reports that the 2-year-old died after the vehicle was stuck in traffic due to Bharat Bandh.

#Bihar: The death of the child is not related to bandh or traffic jam, the relatives had left late from their home: SDO Jehanabad Paritosh Kumar on reports that a 2-year-old patient died after the vehicle was stuck in #BharathBandh protests pic.twitter.com/mE8yQRuj2H

— ANI (@ANI) September 10, 2018

The child was suffering of high fever and bad stomach. Her father Pramod Manjhi said that the family decided to take her to the hospital after her condition deteriorated due to acute dehydration. Pramod alleged that he faced difficulty in arranging any vehicle due to bandh and after much delay an autorickshaw agreed to carry the child. “I took NH 83 which is the main route to Jehanabad. There were obstacles on road everywhere. My daughter fell unconscious in between and as the three-wheeler entered the outskirts of Jehanabad my baby died,” Pramod said. “It took three hours to reach the outskirts of Jehanabad from my village which takes barely an hour on a normal day,” he said and added that if vehicles were allowed to move, his daughter would have been alive.