Having spent over a fortnight convalescing at hospital, the infant who suffered a serious brain injury after being allegedly assaulted by her father is likely to be discharged on Saturday.
The infant who was just 54-days-old at the time of the incident was admitted at Kolancherry Medical College on June 18 and four days later she underwent a four-hour-long surgical procedure called subdural evacuation for removing a blood clot from the brain. The surgery was performed by neurosurgeon Jain George.
The incident had shocked the collective conscience of society and even Health Minister K.K. Shylaja expressed concern about the infant’s state and promised all medical assistance.
As her condition remained critical, she was moved into the neuro Intensive Care Unit on oxygen support after the surgery and her condition was closely observed for the next 48 hours. She began to show perceptible improvements and gradually she started moving her hands and feet and eyes, she cried and was shortly fit enough to be breastfed. Though she later developed a minor fever, it lasted only for a few hours.
“Her condition has considerably improved and remains stable following which we are planning to discharge her by Saturday,” said hospital sources.
Case registered
The Angamaly police had registered a case against the 40-year-old father, hailing from Kannur, under IPC Section 307 (attempt to murder) and relevant sections of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act.
According to the police, the infant used to sleep through the day and remain awake in the night. On the fateful day, when infant started crying incessantly, the accused, who was already into a quarrel with his wife, slapped the infant and threw her on to the bed. The accused, an occasional drinker, used to turn suspicious about the parentage of the infant whenever he got drunk. However, on the day of the incident, he wasn’t drunk.
The infant was initially taken to a private hospital at Angamaly from where she was referred to the Kolancherry Medical College considering the serious nature of the injury. Though the parents in their attempt to hide the actual happening tried to push different versions of the incident, hospital authorities turned suspicious and alerted the police.
The accused and wife, of Nepali descent, met over the Facebook and got married in a church at Nepal last August. The marriage was arranged by his brother, a pastor, by getting in touch with the woman’s brother who was also a pastor.
The couple had been living at a rented house in Angamaly since then.