AES deaths: 'They lost kids to viral disease, cops booking them for protest'

Thirty-nine people of Harivanshpur village in Bihar's Vaishali district were booked on Tuesday for protesting against the government over the deaths of children due to acute encephalitis syndrome (AES) and lack of water facilities.

Talking to ANI, kin of people named in the FIR accused the administration of callousness, saying they had lost their children, yet the administration remained unmoved by their plight. The relatives added that men who have been named in the FIR have left the village to earn a living for their families.

"Our children have died. We did a road gherao, but the administration has filed an FIR against us. Men against whom FIR has been registered have left the village and gone away. They were the only breadwinners," said a relative of a person against whom the FIR has been registered to ANI.

ANI reported that people in Harivanshpur village have moved to other villages after the outbreak, which has so far claimed 167 children in Bihar.

"My two sons died due to acute encephalitis in the matter of an hour. The elder one was seven years old while the younger one was two years old. There were no awareness campaigns by the administration regarding the disease," father of a child who died due to AES told ANI.