Four-year-old victim of parental brawl battles for life

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangalore, Feb 3, 2012 : A four-year-old, a victim of a brawl between his mother and his stepfather, is now at the Regional Advanced Pediatric Care Centre (RAPCC) of the Government Wenlock Hospital, with severe burn injuries and an amputated leg. His 10-year-old brother is with him, though unaware of the seriousness of the little boy’s condition.

 

The victim, Thanu of Attigundi in Chikmagalur, lost his mother Chandramma, who was murdered by her inebriated husband Nagaraj. His brother Shashi Kumar says that his father used to beat his mother everyday. Chandramma had married Nagaraj four years back and Shashi Kumar was staying in his grandparent’s house nearby.

Recalling the tragic incidents of Jan 17, Shashi Kumar said that his stepfather came home drunk at 9:15 p.m. and that there was a quarrel between the two. When the quarrel became intense, neighbors and Shashi’s grandparents tried to intervene. However, Nagaraj began assaulting Chandramma again at around 10:00 p.m. and when the terrified woman tried to run away with her four-year-old son Thanu, she tripped over a live wire and was electrocuted on the spot. Thanu was seriously injured. The stepfather fled the scene and his whereabouts are not known at present.

Based on a complaint lodged by Shashi Kumar, the Malandur police have registered a case against Nagaraj and Rudresh, a coffee estate manager, who has been arrested for laying live wires on the fence of his estate to prevent theft.

Currently, the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) is taking care of the two children with the help of doctors and nurses at the RAPCC as none of their relatives are willing to assist them. The child was admitted to the hospital on Jan 22 for advanced treatment.

According to Asha Nayak, the chairperson of CWC, they will take care of the kids till one of their relatives expresses willingness to adopt them. She said that the CWC is doing everything in its power to give the child the best treatment.

Stating that both kids are in need of counseling, she said that they will be moved to an institution when they are both physically fit and arrangements will be made to educate them if no one takes them home.

Dr. Kishan Shetty, the surgeon who operated on Thanu, said that the child’s leg had to be removed as it got infected.