Death Of Midday Meal Cook In Bee Attack: Meghwal Samaj Demands Martyr Status For Deceased Kanchan Bai
The community members gathered at the district collectorate at Neemuch to demand to declare slain Kanchan as martyr and release a reward of Rs one crore to her family.
Bhopal: The Meghwal community on Saturday demanded the state government to accord status of martyr to Kanchan Bai for sacrificing her life to save 20 children in her village in Madhya Pradesh’s Neemuch district from the bee attack.
The community members gathered at the district collectorate at Neemuch to demand to declare slain Kanchan as martyr and release a reward of Rs one crore to her family.
Kanchan is survived by her paralysis-affected husband, one son and two daughters.
She was the sole bread earner of her family.
She had served as midday meal cook in the Anganwadi Centre in her village of Ranpur under Madavada panchayat and was also the president of the local women self-help group (SHG).
On the fateful day on February two, a massive swarm of bees suddenly emerged from a beehive hanging in a tree in the Anganwadi Centre and descended on the children playing in its compound.
“Without wasting time, Kanchan gathered tarpaulins and mats from the Anganwadi Centre and ran towards the children to take them to safety, one by one, by covering them with tarpaulins and mats. She had been badly bitten by the bees in the process, but she did not bother. She had saved 20 children by safely evacuating them from the place”, Minati Meghwal, local villager staying close to the Centre said on Saturday while recounting the horrific incident.
Kanchan later collapsed but not before evacuating the last child, playing the compound, to safety.
Constable Kalunath along with other villagers rushed her to the local community health Centre where doctors declared her dead-on- arrival.
Hundreds of bleeding spots in her body, caused by bee stings, bore the testimony to her sagacity, and love for the children.
“It is hard to believe that she could withstand the pains of bee stings on every part of her body to save every child playing in the compound. A person with an iron will can only exhibit such bravery”, Minati said.
Thousands of people in the surrounding villages gathered at her home in Ranpur village when her body was brought after postmortem to pay their tribute to the woman for her heroic deeds, she added.