Hyderabad:
A minor fracture in her skull is just one of the many injuries inflicted upon six-year-old Nartana by her mother. The child was moved from a government hospital in Andhra Pradesh's Nellore district to a hospital in Chennai for specialised care.
"She suffers from multiple injuries of various ages perpetrated on he including a liver injury," says Dr Balaramachandran, who is now treating her.
Her mother, Nagachaitanya, has said she used blades and burning-hot iron rods on Nartana. She wanted to 'discipline' her daughter, she said. Nagachaitanya and a man believed to be her lover have been taken into custody. The array of horrors includes that both Nagachaitanya and the man arrested with her were professional caregivers for other children. Nagachaitanya is a primary school teacher, the man allegedly runs a private school.
Nartana was rescued by child welfare workers after neighbours sounded an alert. They said the child had been locked up for four days without food or water in her mother's home. That part turned out to be the least cruel part of the story.
Doctors say Naratana is recovering well and will be able to leave hospital after two weeks. Relatives have not volunteered to look after her, so she will be moved to a welfare home.
"In this kind of situation, we can take over the child, put her in a good school etc. Because the Juvenile Justice Act provides protection to every child who is in need of care and protection," says Usha Rani, the Director of Women and Child Welfare Department, Andhra Pradesh.