In a strange turn of events, the parents of a young boy who made news last year, after he reportedly caught fire spontaneously several times and was brought to the city for treatment, are back here — this time with their second son, and citing the same condition.
According to Rajeswari and Karna from T. Parangini in Villupuram district, their second son (and third child), who was born on January 9, ‘caught fire’ on January 15.
The couple is now at the Government Kilpauk Hospital, where their baby has been admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit. Hospital authorities said the child will be under observation for a month.
“I had gone to use the bathroom which is just behind the house. When I was coming back, I heard my baby screaming and ran in to find his feet on fire. I quickly doused him with water and rushed to the local hospital,” said Rajeswari.
Doctors at the hospital said tests, including X-ray, blood and biochemistry tests, are being conducted on the child, and no cause has been ruled out as yet. “The baby has suffered about 5 per cent burns on his feet,” a senior doctor said.
The older son Rahul, now one and a half, is doing well and there have been no more incidents of combustion, Rajeswari said.
The couple also has a three-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Narmadha. “She is not yet in school as we cannot afford the expenditure,” said Rajeswari, who has been asked to undergo counselling at the hospital.
A four-member team has been formed to investigate the burns on the baby, hospital authorities said
According to a press release, health minister C. Vijaya Baskar and health secretary J. Radhakrishnan visited the baby at the hospital.
