Prayagraj MP and former Uttar Pradesh cabinet minister Rita Bahuguna Joshi’s granddaughter died due to serious burn injuries sustained during Diwali celebrations late on Monday night. The six-year-old girl sustained burns at her maternal grandparents’ home on Monday afternoon while she was playing with other children of the house on the roof.
She was rushed to a private hospital with around 60 per cent burns. The child was due to be shifted to Delhi in an air ambulance on Tuesday morning but succumbed to her injuries at around 2 am, informed Abhishek Shukla, Joshi’s media coordinator.
According to reports, Joshi had come to her ancestral home in Civil Lines with her husband PC Joshi to celebrate Diwali. Her daughter-in-law Richa and granddaughter were also visiting her parents’ house located at Ponappa road when the incident took place.
“The child was playing with Diwali’s earthen lamps on the roof with other children in the afternoon when somehow her clothes caught fire. By the time, the elders could rush and douse the flames; she had sustained 60 per cent burns. She was immediately rushed to a private hospital where her treatment began. But she could not be saved,” Shukla said.
The MP had spoken to defence minister Rajnath Singh, Union health minister Harsh Vardhan and UP CM Yogi Adityanath to get the child airlifted to Delhi for treatment but she died before this could be implemented.
The child was Rita Joshi’s only son Mayank’s only daughter. Mayank is expected to arrive in Prayagraj on Tuesday afternoon from Delhi where he had rushed to make arrangements for the treatment. After he arrives, the last rites will be performed at Daraganj Ghat, Shukla said.
