REPORT / INTERNATIONAL NEWS

The Guardian, New Delhi, Feb 2017: Chandrika Shenoy’s son, Mahesh, lies on the ground beside her on a mat, his limbs twitching as he moans, seemingly in distress. Following a supreme court ruling in January, the family are waiting to receive the 500,000 rupees (£5,973) the Kerala government has been ordered to pay the thousands of people whose lives have been permanently scarred by years of routine spraying of the cheap, highly toxic pesticide endosulfan. “The compensation cannot give my son his childhood back,” says Shenoy, from their home in Kasaragod, Kerala. “Or give me my life back. All it can do is help us provide him with the best care.” Her face bears the strain of caring for her son for 18 years.Shenoy knew instantly something was different about her son when he was born. “Mahesh’s face and skin tone were beautiful but his body structure was not right. He was dull and passive, and slept all the time. When, at the age of three, he began to have fits that lasted all night, the doctors at Calicut Medical College said endosulfan was responsible for his condition,” she says. His thick medical file states he has cerebral palsy with

 Read More: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/feb/15/childhoods-lost-disabilities-seizures-blight-india-kerala-endosulfan-victims