Baby-bashing may be case of abused girl venting rage

New Delhi: At a time when female infanticide and child mortality are falling in the country, there's one child for whose survival New Delhi residents feel compelled to pray for.

Ever since two-year-old baby Falak was brought to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) by a 14-year-old girl, her horrific experience has shocked the nation. Falak is being treated for severe head injuries, broken arms, bite marks all over her body and burns on her cheeks.

Police reports now suggest the teenager who brought Falak to hospital has been sexually abused and may have harmed the baby in a fit of rage.

Suhasini, a housewife, said: "I have a daughter. But am still willing to adopt the child. There is hardly a moment when Falak is not in my mind and I continuously watch TV to know how she is responding."

But oblivious of it all, Falak, who is being treated at the trauma centre at the prestigious AIIMS, remains ‘critical'.

According to Dr Deepal Agrawal, assistant professor, Department of Neuro-surgery, Trauma Centre, AIIMS, "The seemingly well-fed and healthy child is doing her best to fight it out. She is only responding to painful stimuli and spontaneously opening her eyes, but not registering anything."

"The child developed chest complications, which are common in every ICU patient. But other than that, she has developed septecemia, a bacteria [infection] in the blood and due to this, is also suffering from meningitis [brain infection]," the doctor said.

Dr Agrawal explained: "There are two complications in the brain. One is the infection and the other is that the water inside the brain has stopped circulating, technically called hydrocethalus, which is a common complication seen in patients with severe head injuries. For this, we have temporarily put in a tube, which is draining the brain fluid outside. And till the infection settles, we cannot do anything more.

"Once the infection goes, then probably next week we can think of a surgical procedure — which we call the ‘shunt' — in which a tube is put from the brain into the abdomen and it goes from under the skin."

Even as infections are being controlled, another neuro-surgeon treating Falak, Dr Sumit Sinha said, "We are fighting on multiple fronts and see hope because the child's condition has not deteriorated since her admission. As it is, she was in a very bad condition when admitted."

Psychiatrist Arun Roy observed: "It is not unheard of for a sexually exploited teenager to have reacted and harmed a child with whom she had no relation. The hidden bruises of her own life's trauma could have made her treat Falak the way she did."