Bangalore beggar deaths: 20 deaths in 48 hours, 13 in critical condition

Eight more inmates of Beggars’ Colony at Sumanahalli on Magadi Road died on Thursday, taking the death toll to 20 in the last 48 hours, since Tuesday night. The continuing deaths have enhanced the shame of Bangalore, which appears to have neglected the inhuman conditions in which 2,500 of its citizens live right under its nose.

The preliminary findings of the inquiry committee instituted by social welfare minister D Sudhakar, and headed by social welfare department commissioner N Manjunath Prasad, indicate an epidemic outbreak within the colony due to lack of immunity among the inmates and unhygienic conditions in the colony, which falls in the jurisdiction of the social welfare department.