Laxmi, Kanta arrested by Delhi Police
The family of two-year-old baby Falak, who continues to battle for survival at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), is being brought together by Delhi Police teams that have fanned out all over the country unravelling a sordid tale of abandonment and, possibly, human trafficking. After Munni, the woman who claims to be her mother, was found, the police say they have now traced Falak's older sister Sanober in Bihar. Munni was given custody of Sanober, after she identified her, police said. Only their five-year-old brother is missing now, say the police who have been attempting for weeks to complete the family portrait.
Falak, named for the sky by hospital staff, was brought, battered and bruised, to AIIMS on January 18 by a teen. Ever since, the police have been trying to piece together the tragic chain of events that led to the child being beaten so severely. Falak has 'battered baby syndrome,' and her latest medical report says that she is still critically ill and on life-support. Doctors said today that her condition had not improved or deteriorated significantly in the last 24 hours.
Here are five new developments in the tragic story:
- 22-year-old-Munni has sought Falak's custody. She has approached the Child Welfare Committee and has said she would like to look after the baby. DNA tests are being conducted to ascertain if Munni is Falak's biological mother. For now, Munni has been given custody of the older child, Sanober. The woman was brought to Delhi yesterday and is at a nari niketan or shelter for women - the nari niketan allows mothers to keep their children up to the age of six with them. She has not visited Falak in hospital yet. Munni has reportedly not been told about Falak being in so precarious a condition. It took the Delhi Police weeks of investigation to locate Munni in Rajasthan, where she lived with her second husband, whom she married months ago.
- Today, Sanober, who police say is Falak's older sister, was handed over to Munni after being traced in Bihar. Police say that Sanober was taken to Bihar and was left there by Lakshmi, the woman whom Munni had allegedly contacted in Delhi last year and with whom she says she left Falak and her other two children. Munni's five-year-old son is still missing. Sanober was examined by doctors, who say she is healthy.
- Munni is originally from Bihar. She has reportedly told the police that she was abandoned by her husband after they had three children. She says she was promised a job in Delhi by an acquaintance, so she left Bihar and moved to Delhi with her . Police say she has accused Lakshmi and another woman named Kanta, of trying tried to persuade her into prostitution. When she refused, police said, the women tricked her into marrying a man from Rajasthan, promising that he would look after her children eventually. She left her children behind with Lakshmi, Munni has reportedly said. Lakshmi then reportedly gave away the children - Falak was handed from one adult to another, till she ended up with the teenager who had eloped with a man named Rajkumar, who is one of the main accused in the case. He is still missing.
- Police said the man from Rajasthan, whom Munni married last year, was also tricked into the marriage by Lakshmi and her cohorts. He is 25 years old and spent about Rs 5 lakhs on the marriage; he gave Rs 3 lakhs to Lakshmi, the police said.
- The police are investigating the human trafficking and prostitution angle in the case, though they say that is there was trafficking, it was not at a very big scale. Lakshmi is among three women and six people arrested so far in the case. The teen who brought Falak her to hospital is at a juvenile home.