Sai Sri's father exploited her, alleges mother

Hyderabad (Telangana) [India] May 17 (ANI): After the video of 13-year-old Sai Sri begging her father to save her life by providing cancer treatment took the nation by storm, her mother Suma Sri said her daughter pleaded the father to save her through a video call, adding he also exploited her. "My daughter requested her father to save her through a video call. He asked me to leave our daughter with him. I trusted him and left for Vijaywada on February 28. On March 2, Sai Sri had sent a video clip in which she was crying badly and said that he was not looking after her properly and mistreating her. She pleaded me to take her out of that house. When I asked the reason she said that her father has been exploiting her and threatened to kill her if she would refuse to cooperate with him," Suma Sri told ANI. She further said that earlier they thought she had fever but after her condition deteriorated she was admitted to the Apollo Hospital where the doctors informed she had cancer. "Till January she underwent chemotherapy and we spent about Rs. 20 lakh. We earlier thought that she was recovering but the doctors said that the chemotherapy was unsuccessful and bone marrow therapy had to be done where Rs. 30 to 40 lakh was required for the treatment. Since our financial condition was not good, we had to shift her to a government hospital. However, they said that they don't have the facility to conduct chemotherapy. I was helpless and at the last moment I called her father, Madhav Shetty Shivakumar, seeking help from him," she added. Suma Sri said that Shivakumar denied to come there and rather asked her to send Sai Sri to Bangalore. "He said that he would take care of her and cover the medical and education expenses. I felt treatment to my daughter was a priority. I somehow came to Vijaywada with my daughter after hearing her discomfort. I went to the Chief Minister's office for help but they asked me for a waiting card and several other documents," Suma Sri asserted. She further said the government officials said that she would be granted with not more than Rs. four to five lakh for the treatment. "My husband has disrupted our lives by sending goons to the house. I appealed to the MLA through media for help but did not receive any help from the other end," Suma Sri added. Expressing grief over the death of Sai Sri, Principal of Sri Chaitanya Techno School, Jyoti said that the school has lost a bright student, adding the incident came as a shock to them. "The school has lost a bright student. Sai Sri was a very active and humble student and she used to participate in extra-curricular activities and she had a very friendly nature," Jyoti told ANI. She further said that Sri was studying in the school from Class 3 and suddenly she became irregular in attending school. "When we started calling her parents, they said that the girl is sick. In February, the girl along with her parents approached the school and asked us to allow her to write ninth standard annual examination. As the girl didn't attend the school the entire year we didn't permit her and suggested to continue the ninth standard again," Jyoti added. She said that the girl was assured that she will be supported completely and no one will humiliate her. "All of a sudden we got to know that the girl was no more. So this comes as a great shock to our school. We have lost a very brilliant student," Jyoti added. In the video, Sri was seen begging her father to sell their house for her treatment, who was suffering from bone marrow cancer. She sent a heartbreaking Whatsapp message to her father and after the message got viral, Sri's father threw her and her mother out of the house. Unbelievably, the father allegedly sent goons with the help of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) MLA Bonda Umamaheswara Rao to settle the issue. The police even refused to file complaint against the goons send by Shiv Kumar, as they were reportedly supported by the MLA. "We have filed a petition in Human Rights Commission regarding the case. We have appealed to initiate action," Achyuta Rao, President, Balala Hakkula Sangam told ANI. Taking note of the situation, that the father didn't spend the money even though he could afford it, the SHRC ordered the city Commissioner of Police to submit a detailed report on the incident. With the video having gone viral across the nation now, a cry of outrage is spreading over the father's shocking insensitivity and apathy towards his own child. (ANI)