‘Rat eaters’ dying like rats in Uttar Pradesh: State refutes reports of hunger deaths

Several people belonging to the poorest of the poor ‘Musahar’ (rat eating) community are reported to have died in August in Kushinagar, adjacent to Gorakhpur, UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s home turf.

While district authorities have claimed the deaths to have resulted due to illnesses and ‘ high fever’ , social workers, activists and even health workers attributed the deaths to malnutrition and hunger.

At least five such cases have been recorded. They range from Reema Kumar (6) to Beepat Musahar (28). While the girl child was said to have been running a high temperature, officials, reacting 48 hours after Beepat Musahar’s death on Independence Day, claimed the 28-year old was a diabetic and also suffered from Tuberculosis, claims which were refuted by the family.

From the same village where Reema Kumari and Beepat Musahar lived, Rampurpatti in Dudahi Block, a 17-year old Bhadari Kumari passed away on August 17. This time too people and social workers blamed chronic hunger and malnutrition to have caused the death. Government officials, however, did not react to this death.

Days later,on August 22, two more people identified as Sudarshan Musahar(30) and Badami Devi(28) from village Sorahwa from the same Dudahi block passed away.

Brijesh Govind Rao, who has been working among Musahars for the last three decades said, “There was nothing to eat in the houses of all these people. Conditions of the surviving family members of the deceased are equally pathetic. The local government officials had delivered some foodgrains in their houses after they lost their kin. But that wouldn’t make them survive for more than a few weeks.”

“These people mostly go to the quacks when they fall ill because of hunger and malnutrition. They do frequently end up having fever and it becomes easy for the government to claim that they were ill”, Rao added.

He recalled that many of the Musahars of these villages featured in a documentary film titled “Human” made by French filmmaker Yann Arthus-Bertrand in 2013.

“Ekami Devi of village Gurumiha Mafitola, who was the most prominent voice in the documentary, which was shown in the United Nations, died unnoticed of an unknown disease early this year,” Rao informs.

“No government is honest about protecting or uplifting these people. They often are not even aware that they are Scheduled Castes and that the Constitution of India has provided them with several rights”, added Ram Briksh Giri, another social worker active in the area.

“No government is honest about protecting or uplifting these people. They often are not even aware that they are Scheduled Castes and that the Constitution of India has provided them with several rights”, added Ram Briksh Giri, another social worker active in the area.

“Death due to hunger or malnutrition is routine in the Musahar community because of acute poverty. Sometimes, people notice and talk about it while at other times they ignore it,” said Giri.

Last week, Ganga Ram Kushwaha, MLA from Fazilnagar in Kushinagar district visited village Sorahwa, when he denied starvation death but accepted that malnutrition and lack of medical assistance could be the reasons behind deaths.

Anil Singh, the District Magistrate, said, “Two quacks have been arrested and two auxiliary nurse midwives suspended. We are organising health camps in the villages to prevent such a situation. The department of health and family welfare is organising workshops to keep the villagers aware of sanitation and hygiene.”

The DM added that the Musahars had died of “illness” and wrong treatment.

The state Government however has given Rs 10,000 as ‘compensation’ to the family members of those who died in August.