THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a recorded statement to Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, Sreedevi, the mother of children who reportedly ate sand to ward off hunger, said that her children didn’t starve and the fake reports caused her great pain.

“In the last week, some people from Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights came and the children were playing. The children happened to take sand and keep it in their mouth which was wrongfully reported as eating”, Sreedevi said. She added that her husband used to hurt the children, which was the reason she took them to the Child Welfare Council.

Despite being abusive, her husband used to buy groceries for the house. On reaching the Child Welfare Council she signed the papers without reading it.

Meanwhile, Child Welfare Council General Secretary S.P. Deepak said that the children are in such a pathetic state that they had to eat sand to curb hunger. Their state became known through a phone call on the council’s toll-free number 1517. Deepak said that he confirmed this by making a visit to their place. They didn’t even have a ration card or other benefits of poor people, he said.

Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights chairman P. Suresh on Tuesday visited the shanty here in Kaithamukku and inquired about the matter with the child’s grandmother. Civil Supplies allotted ration card to the family. They can avail 35 kilograms of rice every month as ration.