Etah admin steps in after 10yo carried mom’s body alone for autopsy

Agra: A day after a 10-year-old boy arrived alone at a postmortem house with his mother's body, the Etah district administration on Friday reached out to the child, whose family had earlier abandoned him after his parents fell ill with HIV.The 52-year-old woman, who was undergoing treatment for tuberculosis and HIV at Veerangana Avanti Bai Medical College in Etah, died on Wednesday night. On Thursday morning, her son arrived at the post-mortem facility accompanied only by hospital staff who wheeled the body on a stretcher. Locals alerted the police after seeing the child standing alone and crying next to his mother's body, following which the Jaithra SHO took responsibility for arranging the last rites. The woman was cremated later on Friday at her ancestral village after some relatives came forward.District probation officer Ajaypal Singh said the administration's team was present at the cremation site and would take further steps after assessing the boy and his 16-year-old sister's situation. "If someone is ready to keep the children, they will be provided benefits under the govt scheme, under which Rs 4,000 per month is given per child. If no one comes forward, they will be sent to a child welfare home in Agra. Whatever is in their best interest will be done; our team is present there," he told TOI.The boy, speaking briefly to TOI, said, "I am looking forward to the cooperation of all sides, including my relatives and the administration."The child's father had died of HIV last year, leaving the family without an earning member. "When papa got AIDS, everyone stopped speaking to us," the boy had earlier told TOI.Jaithra SHO Ritesh Kumar Thakur said the police made all arrangements for the woman's cremation. "The last rites were performed around 1 pm in the presence of family members, villagers and police personnel," he said.Police said the family is impoverished and that the children's only immediate support appears to be their maternal relatives.