Man held for bid to murder infant

In a gruesome incident, a 54-day-old infant suffered serious head injuries after being allegedly slapped by her father on Thursday night.

The Angamaly police arrested Shaiju Thomas, 40, a resident of Kannur, in connection with the incident. He was slapped with IPC Section 307 (attempt to murder) and various sections of the Juvenile Justice Act. He was produced before court and remanded.

The infant remains in the ICU of the Kolancherry Medical College Hospital.

According to the police, the accused, suspicious of the parentage of the child, used to slap her whenever she cried. The infant fell unconscious after she was slapped by her father on Thursday night at their rented house near Angamaly. Her mother, of Nepali descent, was also allegedly beaten up by the accused.

The infant was initially taken to Little Flower Hospital, Angamaly, from where she was referred to the Kolancherry Medical College Hospital after she was detected with serious head injuries. The doctor at the Kolencherry hospital was reportedly told that the child had been injured after falling from the bed. However, the doctor was not convinced and alerted the Angamaly police.

“After the doctor conclusively stated that the injury was of the nature caused by abuse and not from fall, we recorded the statement of the mother who confessed that the child had fallen unconscious after being beaten up by her father. She also admitted that he had beaten up the child multiple times before,” a police officer said.