Child Welfare Committee ‘saves’ child, only to send her back to streets in Kerala

Alappuzha: A three- year-old girl from Rayalaseema, who was taken into custody for begging along with her grandmother last Saturday by the Alappuzha north police, is now out on bail and back on the streets.

The child was brought to the Mahilamandiram run by the social welfare board here along with her 60 -year- old grandmother, Gangulamma, on Saturday by the police. But on Tuesday, the two were released on bail and sent back to living on the streets.

According to the police, they were taken back to Komalapuram where the child had been staying in a shop verandah along with nine other migrant beggars for a few days. “They are still living in Komalapuram. We don’t know anything more about the child”, said the North SI . Gangulamma, who hails from Perumbally Village of Chittoor district in Rayalaseem, says she took charge of her grandchild after her mother died two years ago and brought her to Kerala as they were starving in her hometown.

“I had a house and some land in my native place but was forced to sell them for Rs 2 lakh to meet the medical expenses of my daughter-in-law. My son, Muni Ratnam, a drunkard, disappeared two months ago and I was told by my neighbours that I could find a job in Kerala. We have been here for the last three days along with nine others, but as I had no money I began to beg to feed my child,” Gangaulamma told this correspondent.