VIJAYAWADA: Abandoned by her stepfather Sivakumar after she was diagnosed with blood
cancer
, 13-year-old
B V Sai Krishna Sivashree
finally passed away earlier in the week. Efforts of the girl’s mother Sumasree to nurse her back to health proved futile because of lack of money.
Several people are now demanding action against the father for ‘creating hurdles’ for the little girl to get better treatment. Shockingly, the girl had even appealed to her father in a Whatsapp video to get her healthcare so that she could survive and study. In her selfie video, she blamed her father for her imminent death. The video had gone viral after she breathed her last.
Moved by the girl’s demise, AP Women’s Commission chairperson
Nannapaneni Rajakumari
met her mother on Tuesday and promised action against those responsible for her death. Rajakumari appealed to people suffering from similar problems to approach chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu or the AP Women Commission for swift action. “A precious life would have been saved had there been timely intervention,” she said.
According to Sumasree, Sivakumar, a historysheeter, was trying to grab Sivashree’s property by using TDP MLA Bonda Umamaheswarao’s goons. The property was under Sivashree’s name and she would have been eligible to sell it only after turning 18. “My daughter needed money for her treatment. The hospital gave an estimate of Rs 35 lakh. The treatment included bone marrow transplant. Selling the house was vital, but we could not do so because of Sivakumar,” said Sumasree.
After the girl’s death, protests erupted with CPM and YSRC leaders, led by Sumasree, staging a dharna in front of city police commissioner
D Gautam Sawang
’s office. They demanded action against Sivakumar and MLA Umamaheswarao. Sawang promised to look into the matter.
Sivakumar has pleaded innocence and said he had provided Rs 10 lakh for her treatment despite he himself being a cancer patient.