Karwar: Three members of a dalit family at Belehittala in Gokarna of Kumta taluk, died in the last 15 days.

The deceased were the sons of Nagamma Mukri, a member of Gokarna gram panchayat.

According to locals, it was believed that they had BPL cards, but did not get ration as they did not have Aadhaar numbers. Nagamma has another son. All the four sons of Nagamma were addicted to alcohol, sources said. Nagamma, the head of the family, does not have Aadhaar card. Her elder son had a separate ration card, also without an Aadhaar number.

Sources said that Ration was stopped to this family from April. Currently the family lives in a hut on a private land. Nagamma’s daughter-in-law, who now lives in her mother’s house, had forced her husband and Nagamma to enrol for Aadhaar, but they refused to do it.

Kumta MLA Sharadha Shetty who visited the spot, said, “They are very poor. Ration was stopped to this family about three months back as they failed to link Aadhaar to their BPL cards. It is also said that deceased had been addicted to alcohol”.