A badly bruised one-and-a-half-year-old girl, allegedly beaten by her grandfather, was admitted to a private hospital here.
There were bruises all over her body and her face was swollen. Joy, grandfather of the child, was arrested by the Maradu police for allegedly injuring the child. The police said the grandfather admitted to the crime.
The child and her three-year-old brother were left in their maternal grandparents’ care 20 days ago. Their father was at Kottarakkara, supervising the construction of their house, when the incident happened.
The mother is employed as a laboratory technician in Saudi Arabia. The grandparents stayed in a rented house in Kattithara Road, Kannadikkadu, Maradu. Joy was taking care of the children as his wife was a sweeper on a contract basis in a private office at Panampilly nagar.
A neighbour brought the child to the hospital after he realised Joy did not have enough money to do so. The doctor who examined the child said the injuries were sustained two or three days ago.
Fresh bruises were found only on the forehead and upper lip. There were swellings on the right side of the head and right ear. The nature of the injuries led the doctor to lodge a complaint with the police. The hospital superintendent said scans revealed there were no internal injuries.
The child’s sibling was handed over to the Child Welfare Committee. The father appeared before the committee later in the day and took custody of his son.
The neighbours told the committee that the case had been blown out of proportion. The chairperson of the committee, Padmaja Nair, said she did not find any reason to keep the child away from its family.
“There was a delay in getting the child to the hospital, but otherwise it was no case of neglect,” she said.
“The child could have irritated her grandfather,” she said. The injuries were not reported to be grave, she added.
