can parents be so poor as to allow their children eat sand and stones?

*news a day before said they were also eating sand in the compound due to hunger. my advice- DONT have kids if ur so freakin poor!

Tuesday June 1, 2010

It tasted like chocolate, says girl who ate stones

By EMBUN MAJID

SUNGAI PETANI: “It tasted like chocolate, that was why I ate them,” said Year Four I. Yogeswary who was admitted to the Sultan Abdul Halim Hospital here with her two younger sisters and a cousin for eating stones.
The girls were hospitalised after they vomited and suffered stomach pains for eating stones collected from the compound of their house in Kampung Padang Lembu, some 20km from here.
Yogeswary, 10, her sisters Nageswari, eight, and Ganggadevi, six, and their cousin N. Vikneswary, nine, were admitted to the hospital after one of them revealed their condition to Jerai MIC division chairman R. Supramaniam on Friday.

 
Not for eating: Sarojini with one of her daughters while her only son, I. Sentilativan, five, is holding up a handful of stones found in the compound of her home in Kedah yesterday.

They were admitted to the hospital’s intensive care unit here but on Sunday have since have been moved to the observation ward.
Accompanying them at the hospital was their 61-year-old grandmother N. Bathumalai.
A visit to the ward yesterday showed that Yogeswary, Nageswari and Vikneswary’s condition had improved while Ganggadevi was still weak.
Yogeswary said she had been eating stones since last year, adding that it was very crunchy and tasted like chocolate.
Admitting that she was the one who had introduced the stones to the three girls, the schoolgirl from SJK (T) Kalaivani in Kampung Padang Lembu said they secretly ate the stones behind their parents’ back.
“I collected the stones and hid them in my schoolbag and would eat them in my room. One day, Nageswari saw me eating the stones and joined in while the others did so later.
“My sisters, cousin and I are never full after eating food prepared by my mother. We will only feel full after eating the stones.
“My father had caught me eating the stones a few months back and punished me but I was soon back to the habit,” she said.
Her mother V. Sarojini, 27, when met at home, said the girls were admitted to the hospital after her husband, R. Inderan, 43, searched their room and found plastic packages containing stones hidden in their schoolbags and closet.
“I had warned them numerous times about it but they denied doing it. Ganggadevi and Nageswari were admitted to the hospital for the same problem last June and in January this year.
“My husband may earn a small salary working as a labourer but we are never out of food. I am unable to visit my daughters and niece as I have two other daughters and a son to take care of at home,” she said.
Inderan said he and his wife had been branded as unfit parents by his neighbours after the media highlighted the matter, adding that the accusations were unjust as they had done their best for the children.