Abandoned for being girls? Parents lock sisters, 3 and 8, in a room to starve

Two little sisters have been rescued from North-West Delhi's Samaypur Badli area after they were locked in and left to starve by their parents who apparently went away with their brother.

The girls were found by the neighbours in a deplorable condition, locked away in a dingy room, with no food or water, for seven days. They are now in Bhim Rao Ambedkar hospital, Rohini, and are said to be recovering.

The police broke into the house and found the two sisters, lying on a broken cot, holding each other's hand. The elder one had wounds on her head, and worms were crawling out from them.

The house they had been locked in, was stinking and was full of flies and mosquitoes.

Cursed for being a girl

35-year-old Bunty and his wife, Rajni ,lived on the ground floor of house number 304 of the Nepali Colony with their three children. Apart from the two sisters, the couple has a 5-year-old son as well.

Apparently, Bunty was jobless and had taken to drinking. According to reports, the couple was suffering financial difficulties, and Rajni left the home with her son, leaving the two daughters with the father. And after a few days, the father too, left, after locking the girls up in a room and warning them not to come out or else he would kill them. The girls were starving for two-three days when the neighbours called the police on 19 August.

The girls, after being discharged, will be sent to a rehabilitation centre. This incident comes as a shock at a time when the Modi government is aggressively promoting Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao campaign.