A team of doctors including a pediatric surgeon, gynaecologist, orthopedic and anaesthetist operated on the girl. (Representational Image)
Doctors at SSKM Hospital on Tuesday successfully removed seven needles from the body of a three-year-old girl from Purulia, admitted on Saturday, who is suspected to have been abused by her mother’s employer. According to sources, the hospital’s medical board called a review meeting at around 10 am.
Within hours of examining the girl’s test results, she was shifted to the operation theatre, where the surgery started at around 1.30 pm. Doctors took two hours to remove all seven needles from the body of the girl, who will be kept in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit for 48 hours before being transferred to a general bed.
“It was an unusual operation, especially because of the age of the patient. All the needles have been successfully removed from her body. She will be kept under observation for the next 48 hours to check how successful the operation was. Hopefully, she will recover fast. She had several other injuries too, we are looking all treatment options, and will discharge her only after she is fully cured”, said Director (IPGMER) Ajoy Roy.
A team of doctors including a pediatric surgeon, gynaecologist, orthopedic and anaesthetist operated on the girl. As per hospital sources, the needles – which were over 4 inches in length – did not inflict lasting damage on any of the girl’s major organs. “She had three needles in her liver, removing those were the toughest part of the operation. She will hopefully be fine in few days,” said a doctor.
Doctors suspect that the girl was sexually assaulted. The accused, who was her mother’s employer, has been absconding since his name cropped up in the case. The girl and her mother resided in the accused’s house as domestic help. The matter came to light when the girl fell ill, and her mother took her to Bankura Sammilani Medical College. Doctors at the medical college suspected foul play, due to the number and nature of the girl’s injuries, and referred her to SSKM Hospital.
