Child Dead of Starvation

Maka Malakmadze, Adjara

One year old Gogita Abashidze died of starvation. Although five-member family lived in extreme poverty, they could not get social aid.  There are 2 more children in the Abashidzes’ family - 2 and 5 years old sister and brother.

The five-member-family lives in extreme poverty in the village Makho of Khelvachauri district. Father Levan Abashidze earns the only income of the family with his physical work – he assists neighbors to cultivate their plots and gets wages for that.

Gogita was born at home like his sister-and brother. Initially he did not have health problems, the family members claim. Gogita was on formula feeding and soon the family could not buy food for him. Inga Abashidze, the mother, said she fed the child with flour: “I used to feed him with the porridge of fried wheat flour because I had no more choice. As for elders, they mostly eat potatoes or somebody assists us with food…”

Because of permanent starvation Gogita had a shock and he was taken to the Batumi Healthcare Center for Mothers and Children 2 days earlier before his death; unfortunately doctors could not save his life.

Tea Ivanadze, doctor from intensive therapy: “the baby was brought here in shock-conditions. Situation was hard from the very beginning. He was switched to artificial breathing machine. He had low weight - he was born 4 kg and but his weight was only 4.200kg by this time”.

Neighbors from the village say that it is shame of the village administration.

This family, which lives in the house where floor has holes in several places, window has no glasses, roof is damaged, walls are raged and there are no household technique, could not get social aid so far. 

Levan Abashidze, Gogita’s father: “In 2007 an agent came to our family and said that we had high scores. Then he came in 2009. They asked us personal numbers of children that was necessary to get aid. My wife gave birth to our children at home because we could not pay at the maternity house so children did not have birth certificates. Then he asked us to go to the Civil Registration Agency to get certificates. I did not go there because we could not pay for the children’s photos …”

Why the Abashidzes were not in the database of socially disabled families? Why was social agent indifferent to their problem? Badri Mamuladze, head of Khelvachauri staff in Social Service Agency states that, social agent visited Abashide’s family last year, on March 15 and Gogita Abashidze was born on March 19th: “That was in March of 2012, at that time the baby was not born yet and the family did not address to us anymore. We have a service of children care, which would respond to this case and would at least give them food voucher. But unfortunately we had no information”.  He added that the Abashidzes applied to the CRA for social aid in 2007, but they could not enroll the database of socially disabled people because of high scores. However, it is unclear how the family could receive high scores as a result of evaluation.

On March 25th, Merab Gogoberidze, head of the non-governmental organization “Information Center to Combat Corruption” nailed the door of the working room of the head of Khelvachauri district CRA office. Gogoberidze said he protested the death of Gogita Abashidze. According to him, the agency granted social benefits to families according to their own sympathies: “it is not fair to select people according to personal sympathies as it happens in Khelvachauri Social Agency.”

Ucha Nanuashvili, Public Defender of Georgia responded to the fact of death of young Gogita Abashidze: “Public Defender expresses his hope that Gogita’s tremendously tragic history will be the turning point for the consolidation of the state as well as the society, for the establishment of practical attitudes toward the protection of human rights, in particular rights of the child where none of the citizens and over and above none of the state officials will close their eyes on existing violations and will act to resolve the problem with maximum sensitiveness. ”.

Statement of Archil Khabadze, head of Adjara government, was published on the official web-page of Adjara government: “death of one year old Gogita Abashidze is tragedy of all of us, of the entire nation; it is my personal tragedy, because I have no right to put up with similar facts as a resident and head of this region. Ministers Cabinet requests to promptly start investigation into this fact and to take relevant measures in time”.

Ministry of Healthcare also started investigation into the death fact of Gogita Abashidze. Davit Lomidze, deputy minister informed media about it. He met parents and doctors in Batumi, who treated the baby. “It is complicated case and after investigation we will know which institution was responsible for his death”,-states Lomidze.

People from the Social Agency work on the version that Gogita Abashdze’s parents might be deprived of the parental rights and guardians might be appointed to the children.