12-Year-Old Girl Dies After Walking 150 Kms To Reach Home In Chhattisgarh

A twelve-year-old girl who was walking home to Chhattisgarh from Telangana died on Saturday after walking hundreds of kilometres.

Representational Picture (AFP)

New Delhi: A twelve-year-old girl who was walking home to Chhattisgarh from Telangana died on Saturday after walking hundreds of kilometres. According to reports, the girl had left her home in the Bijapur district in Chhattisgarh and joined her relatives in Kannaiguda village in Telangana to work in chilli farms. Due to the Lockdown she and a group of people who worked in the fields decided to walk back home and started their journey on April 15. The group walked for over three days covering 150 km. Reports say the group did not take the road as it was blocked due to the lockdown, instead, they travelled through dense jungles having presence of Maoists. On April 18, the teenager died of exhaustion and electrolyte imbalance. At the time of her death, she was just 50 km away from her home. In a PTI report, Bijapur’s Chief Medical and Health Officer BR Pujari said, “The distance between the place in Telangana where she worked and Bijapur is 150 kilometres and she died some 50 kilometres away from her native village here. She had a meal on Saturday morning but then complained of stomach ache and uneasiness and died around 10 am." She was also tested for Coronavirus but the result came out to be negative. "Her samples were sent for coronavirus testing on Saturday and the report returned negative on Sunday evening. Prima facie, it seems she died of electrolyte imbalance," he added. He said those who were walking along have informed that the girl did not eat well which may have caused muscle fatigue, adding that the viscera had been preserved for further medical investigation. The state government later in the evening announced a compensation of Rs 1 lakh for the kin of the girl. After the lockdown was announced and severe restriction of transport was imposed many migrants who had become unemployed decided to travel back to their naïve villages. While some boarded trucks and other available vehicles many decided to traverse on foot. The little girl is one of many who have lost their lives in their desperate attempt to reach home.  Earlier this month, a 23-year-old migrant worker died after covering 500 km from Maharashtra to Tamil Nadu on foot.