After spending nearly a month at Government Kilpauk Medical College Hospital (KMC), K. Pounraj, the teenager from Dharmapuri district whose hand was set on fire by two men, has been discharged.
Pounraj nearly lost all the fingers on his right hand, but doctors were able to save his palm and thumb, and are planning to reconstruct the thumb.
“We did our best, but gangrene had set into the index finger. The other three fingers too were so badly damaged, they were unresponsive. But we have saved his thumb and done a skin graft on it,” said Nirmala Ponnambalam, head of the burns and plastic surgery department at KMC.
Dr. Ponnambalam said she has asked Pounraj to come back in 10 days for the reconstruction of his thumb. His left hand, which had also suffered minor burns, has completely recovered, she said.
The 18-year-old from Velavelli village in Dharmapuri district was brought to KMC on March 25 with a completely burnt right hand.
His father, Krishnan, a 63-year-old daily-wage labourer working in Bangalore, had accompanied him.
On March 20, Pounraj had been tied to a tree in his village and his hand doused in petrol and burnt by men who suspected him of stealing a mobile phone. Two men were arrested in connection with the incident.
P. Babu, Pounraj’s uncle, said the teenager and his father were expected to reach their village early on Saturday.
The teenager was
tied to a tree and his hand doused in petrol and burnt by men who suspected
him of stealing a mobile phone
