By the time Rahul, 2, was brought to government hospital at Harippad in Alappuzha on October 18, he had been hungry for hours . The doctors said he had died of “starvation-induced anaemia”. The postmortem said his stomach was “empty”.

Keralam’s expansive social welfare umbrella that, at different times of his short life, brushed against Rahul included the ICDS (Integrated Child Development Services), the panchayat, the Juvenile Justice Committee, the District Child Welfare Committee (CWC) and the Health Department. However, Rahul, who at death was 7 kg, almost half the normal weight of a toddler his age, fell through the loopholes.

The Keralam Women and Child Welfare Department has announced now that Rahul’s parents Rajesh T, an autorickshaw driver, and Thara would lose custody of their remaining five children, the eldest 10 and the youngest a newborn, delivered the day before Rahul’s death.…