Digby estimated 10.3 million people starved to death most of which were in South India (some refer to the tragedy as the Madras famine). Maharatna estimated 8.2 million died from hunger and diseases that followed. British colonial rule argued that famine relief would be an inappropriate response and encourage laziness. Some officials argued the Thomas R Malthus theory that famines are a nature's way for population control and argued British government should not intervene. British government continued its policy of "forced export" of food from India in 1876-1879, while the famine swept among its people.

The poverty, misery and diseases wiped out villages and families. Some farmers and their families committed suicide during this 3 year period from the trauma and the extended period of starvation. Parents killed themselves so that their children could eat the remaining scraps of food, creating a pool of abandoned and foresaken children.

Photograph by Willoughby Wallace Hooper (1876-1879)