Kakkanad, Kochi: Police are out to crack how a two-and-a-half-year-old girl received grievous injuries at even as her family members are behaving oddly. The girl, who has been admitted to a hospital at Kolenchery with grievous injuries, continues to be in a critical condition.
The child has sustained a bruise on her head, and two fractures on the left hand. There are also wounds on various parts of her body and a burn injury on her back. The doctors said that the injuries on the child's body were sustained over several days.
The girl is under observation at the intensive care unit and the next 72 hours is crucial, according to the doctors at the MOSC Medical College Hospital at Kolenchery in the eastern part of Ernakulam district.
The Thrikkakkara police have not ruled out outright abuse or even exorcism even as her kin claimed she had inflicted the injuries all by herself. The police have registered a case against the girl's mother, a native of Kumbalam in Kochi, over the delay in providing medical care.
The family comprising the girl, girl's mother, grandmother, aunt and cousin has been living on rent at a flat at Thengod in Kakkand. The girl's mother is estranged from her husband. The woman's sister's partner, Antony Tijin, also stays with them. She too is estranged from her husband.
Suspicious activities had taken place at the flat on Sunday night when the child was admitted to the hospital. The CCTV cameras at the flat show the family members leaving the flat on Sunday night.
The police have initiated a probe about the extended family as well.
The sisters had been living separately from their husbands for a long time, according to the police. The cops are trying to trace them.
The girl's father, who arrived at the hospital on Tuesday afternoon, claimed Antony would have beaten her up.
He is a drug addict. A complaint was filed against him earlier, he added.
What happened on Sunday night
The unconscious girl was first taken to a hospital at Pazhanganad, near Aluva, by her mother and grandmother on Sunday night. The doctor, who grew suspicious on seeing the injuries, informed the police. But as her condition was critical, she was moved to the Kolenchery hospital that night itself.
The police went to the hospital and took the statements of the child's mother, grandmother and doctor. The mother told the police that the hyperactive child inflicted the injuries on herself. But the police have not taken her statements at face value.
The police are also checking whether the child, who has injuries all over her body, was subjected to ‘exorcism’. The injured child's mother and grandmother gave statements that she was very naughty for her age.
The cops are checking whether any black magic practitioners had been called home and caused injuries to the child, believing her to be possessed.
The police are monitoring the movements of the woman's sister and the sister's partner. The CCTV images show the sister and her partner leaving the flat at 2am, after the child was admitted to the hospital.
The girl's mother and grandmother had left the flat with the child, suffering from fits, around 8.30 pm on Sunday. When they reached outside, Antony and sister's son were waiting outside in the car. They first went to the hospital at Pazhangand and the child was taken to the Kolenchery hospital by 11 pm.
After returning to the flat by 2 am on Monday, the sister, her son and Antony left within 20 minutes after packing their bags.
The sister's partner, Puthuvype native Antony, had taken the flat on rent a month ago. Antony had told the flat owner that he had resigned as a cyber police officer after getting a job in Canada. And that his wife, two-and-a-half-year-old son, and wife's sister and mother were with him. But the flat owner or the others in the apartment have not seen the women who stayed with him. The flat was always found to be locked from inside.
When the flat owner called after coming to know of the incident, Antony said that he was at the hospital. But only the child's mother and grandmother are at the hospital.
