The Kochi police have booked a 36-year-old man for attacking his 8-month-old baby on Tuesday. This is the second incident of a parent attacking a baby reported in Kerala in two weeks.
The eight-month-old girl who was made to sleep on the floor of her house on Tuesday night, was picked up by her drunk father and thrown on to the floor. She did not sustain any serious injuries, her mother, Suma, confirmed to local news channels.
The accused has been identified as Anand, a Palakkad native who is residing in a rented house in Thiruvankulam near Tripunithura along with his family. The incident took place in their house in Thiruvankulam.
“On Tuesday, he came home around 7 pm and then took the child and threw her onto the floor. I caught her by then and she did not get injured. But she was crying very badly,” Suma told Manorama news.
Following the baby’s cries, the owner of the rented house, who lived next door, rushed to enquire about the incident and informed Panchayat officials and ASHA workers who visited Anand’s house on Wednesday morning. On learning about the incident, they informed Kochi Childline, which informed the Child Welfare Committee (CWC).
CWC then informed the Kochi Hill Palace police station, where a First Information Report (FIR) was registered on Thursday under IPC sections 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), and 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide) and section 75 of the Juvenile Justice Act (punishment for inflicting cruelty on a child).
The accused, Anand, was taken into custody on Friday morning. However, his arrest is yet to be recorded.
According to ward members of Thiruvankulam as well as the complaint received by the police station, the baby and her mother were attacked by the accused previously as well.
“Anand usually never troubles the child. He has hit me once. And once, playfully, he has bitten the child on her cheek,” the baby’s mother Suma told local news channels.
However, according to ward members, the baby was treated at the Ernakulam General Hospital in June for a whole month after sustaining injuries that were reportedly inflicted by the accused.
“There has been an incident earlier when the baby had marks on her body and had to be taken to the hospital to be treated. The house owner of the place where the couple stays alerted the Panchayat officials and ASHA workers then,” one of the ward members in the locality told local news channels.
The child and her mother have not been brought back to their house and the Panchayat officials and ASHA workers in the locality are providing the family with food and watching over the baby.
In an earlier incident on June 18, a two-month-old baby was flung by her father, 40-year old Shaiju Thomas, who also hit her head on the bed. The child had to undergo an emergency surgery due to the injury sustained on her head. On Friday, doctors at the private hospital in Kolenchery where the baby was being treated, confirmed that she has fully recovered and will be discharged on Saturday.
Following the improvement in her condition, the stitches on the baby’s head have been removed and she has also been taken off from the support breathing system.
Following the incident, the Kerala Women's Commission has now made all arrangements for the mother and the infant to be shifted to a Children's Home near Kochi.
Also read: Kerala baby thrown by father recovers, to be discharged