Women activists condemn denial of treatment to girl child

New Delhi [India], May 17 (ANI): Women activists on Wednesday condemned the harrowing incident of a girl begging her father to save her life and expressed their heartfelt condolences over her death. Subhashini Ali, a woman activist, told ANI, "It is a very tragic incident that a girl whose father could actually afford the treatment was neglected in this way and finally died. It possibly is a case where girl children are not given any importance by their own parents. In our country, very often parents think that they should not spend money on girls as far as their treatment and education is concerned." "In any case, this is a very horrible thing and one can imagine the agony of that young girl who banked upon her father for help and what must she have gone through when her father refused to pay for her treatment and now, she is dead and beyond any help. I just hope that the father is given punishment for this kind of neglect of his daughter," added Ali. Kavita Srivastava told ANI, "This incident is a pure violation of the Protection of Women against Domestic Violence Act. Father certainly has been irresponsible, but what about the neighbours and relatives? The government is to be equally held responsible, as they did not fulfill their obligations and denied the very fundamental right to life. Perhaps, had the child been a boy, he could have been saved." These comments came post a gut-wrenching video of a girl begging her father to save her life by providing for her cancer treatment that went viral. Thirteen year old Sai Sri succumbed to bone marrow cancer. In the video, she was seen begging her father to sell their house for her treatment. Sai Sri sent a heartbreaking Whatsapp message to her father, 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 a complaint against the goons sent by Shiv Kumar, as they were reportedly supported by the MLA. With the video having gone viral across the nation now, a cry of outrage against the father's shocking insensitivity and apathy towards his own child.(ANI)