Two women die in Patna shelter home, NGO officials held on negligence charges

A senior police officer said the arrested officials of Aasra shelter home neither informed the police nor social welfare department officials about the incident.

Police on Monday arrested the director and secretary of a non-government organisation (NGO), Anumaya Human Resource Foundation that ran a shelter home for mentally challenged women in Patna in which two inmates --Naushma alias Babli (40) and Poonam Bharti (18) – died following illness on Friday.

Police personnel investigate the site of Aasra shelter home after the death of two women inmates under mysterious circumstances in Patna on Sunday. (PTI Phot)

“The police came to know about the deaths only on Sunday morning,” Patna zone IG NH Khan. Patna SSP Manu Maharaj said the accused— director Manisha Dayal and secretary Chirantan Kumar — were arrested on the charges of negligence and the apparent attempt to keep the police in dark about the deaths in Aasra Home.

Both Dayal and Kumar were produced in a local court, which allowed three-day police remand for them.

A senior police officer said the arrested officials of the shelter home neither informed the police nor social welfare department officials about the incident. “We are looking for the doctor and the nurse who treated the two inmates at the shelter home.

The NGO reportedly persuaded the doctor on duty at Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) as well as town police outpost (TOP) on the hospital premises to keep the matter under wraps. The NGO also provided incomplete information about its address,” he said.

The Aasra Home, where the two inmates lived, was opened in May this year. At present, 70 inmates are staying there. Dayal is linked to many NGOs functioning in the state, including some dealing with government projects, and is known to have good connections in the corridors of power.

Patna Medical College and Hospital superintendent Dr Rajiv Ranjan Prasad said both the inmates were brought dead at the hospital. Refuting allegations that the PMCH authorities did not inform police about the postmortem, he said police were duly informed about it.