Activists said, the girl who was forced to sit on a hot frying pan and had burns (Representational)
A four-year-old girl in Hyderabad was forced to sit on a hot frying pan by her mother who wanted to "get rid of her", the police said today. The brutal abuse, revealed when the child was brought to a child helpline centre with burns on her body, left activists shocked.
A couple claimed to have found her at the railway station. According to activists, the girl had severe burns on her back and leg and also had injuries from beating.
When the woman, Lalitha Mahapatra, was questioned at length, she revealed that she was in fact the little girl's mother and didn't want her.
Lalitha, a 25-year-old mother of three, had allegedly left her husband in Srikakulam three years ago and had been living in Hyderabad with another man, Y Prakash. She took only her youngest daughter with her, but Prakash allegedly didn't want the child.
Lalitha and Prakash worked as cook and watchman at a hostel and also lived there.
Recently, the child reportedly dropped and damaged a laptop belonging to a resident at the hostel. The police say when the resident complained to Lalitha, she turned on her daughter and thrashed her.
Lalitha claims her daughter "accidentally" fell into the pan and burnt her feet.
The child has now been shifted to a government-run home for children.
The couple has been charged with hurting the child and also under the Juvenile Justice Act. They face a maximum of three years in prison.
Activist Achyutha Rao of Balala Hakkula Sangam says the woman and her partner should be charged with attempted murder.