Uttar Pradesh: Woman dies of hunger after shop denies ration due to no Aadhaar verification, alleges family

A 50-year-old woman in Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly died at her home due to starvation on Tuesday.

Shakina Ashfaq died as she didn't consume anything for past five days after being denied her family's ration as she could be present at the food-distributing shop for biometric verification for Aadhaar, according to a NDTV report.

The victim's family alleged that they were denied the monthly quota of ration as Shakina, who was paralysed and unwell, could not attend the shop to avail her family's share. She was marked as the family's head in the ration card.

Mohd Ishaq, Shakina's husband alleged that his wife died only due to hunger. He said his family used to take her to the ration shop in rickshaw every month to avail their share but this time she could not go as she was unwell. The ration shop owner refused to give them anything without biometrics verification, he said. The shop owner was persistent that Shakina should come for the verification or else they won't be entitled for the ration under the Public Distribution System.

The Yogi Adityanath government is currently investigating the matter and said that the initial probe shows that Shakina died of an illness not due to starvation.

Under the central government's scheme of Antyodaya for the BPL (Below Poverty Line) families, the family can avail 35 kg of subsidised wheat, rice and sugar every month.