Doctors count 17 injuries on 7-year-old from Dharavi

A day after seven-year-old Menaka Thakur was admitted to Sion hospital after she was allegedly tortured by her stepmother, Aarti, doctors said the child's ordeal was a classic case of 'battered baby syndrome'.

A day after seven-year-old Menaka Thakur was admitted to Sion hospital after she was allegedly tortured by her stepmother, Aarti, doctors said the child's ordeal was a classic case of 'battered baby syndrome'.

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Battered baby syndrome refers to injuries sustained by a child as a result of physical abuse by the caregiver.

"In such cases, the child is unwanted and is beaten up by the caregiver. The parent usually shoves the child around and even holds the child tight giving the child abrasions and contusions on the body," said Dr Rajesh Dere, in-charge of the post-mortem centre at Sion hospital.

On Thursday, doctors did an ante-mortem examination (medical examination while a person is alive) on the child and recorded 17 fresh and old injuries. There were burn marks on her shoulder, possibly caused with a metal object.

"There were abrasions on her neck that shows someone had wrung her neck," said Dr Dere.

The forensic medicine doctors have sought X-ray and CT scan to check for any internal injuries. If there are injuries in her internal organs, the stepmother, who is the accused in the case, can be booked for causing grievous hurt that attracts a more severe punishment (seven years imprisonment).

Psychiatrists examined Menaka and ruled out post-traumatic stress disorder in the child. The child is stable.