The three-year-old boy in Aluva, who had been hanging on to life at the ICU of Rajagiri Hospital in Kochi since Wednesday, succumbed to the numerous injuries inflicted on his body. He was pronounced dead at 9 am on Friday.
The child was brought to Rajagiri hospital on Wednesday afternoon with a severe head injury. The following day, despite a three-hour surgery and other extensive treatment, he slipped into coma.
"The reason for the death is the severe injury to his head. The child was in coma and was not responding to any treatments," a hospital staff told TNM.
But the medical evaluation had revealed that the boy had several other injuries on his body, including burn marks, raising suspicion of assault against the child. His father claimed that he had fallen down a staircase. However, after the parents were interrogated, the child's mother Hena was arrested on Thursday evening.
According to sources, she revealed that the child was assaulted. Some reports also said that she allegedly used the rolling board used to make chappatis to beat the child.
.jpg?w=640&auto=format%2Ccompress)
Hena, the three-year-old boy's mother
The child was unconscious when he was brought to the hospital. He had multiple bruises on both lower limbs and a fresh burn on his right foot. When he was first brought to the hospital, he was shifted to the ICU under the supervision of the paediatric intensivist. On further evaluation by a team of multidisciplinary doctors, an emergency craniectomy (a surgery that involves removing a portion of the skull to relieve pressure on the brain) was advised.
“A surgery had to be done but the father insisted on taking the kid to another hospital. With the intervention of the police and the hospital administration, the father consented to the surgery. But even after that the child remained unconscious and was not reacting to any stimuli. His condition remained very serious throughout Thursday. He was living only because of the ventilator support,” a hospital staff told TNM.
According to the Eloor police, the father is a native of West Bengal, while the mother is from Jharkhand. They had been living in Aluva for the last few weeks. The boy's mother was charged under Section 307 IPC (Attempt to murder) and Section 75 of Juvenile Justice Act (Punishment for cruelty to Child). After consultation with the doctors she was also booked under two more sections, that is, sections 323 (Punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) and 326 (Voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means). Though the father is not arrested at present, police have taken him into custody.