Mumbai Crime: Aunt assaults 15-month-old for ‘6 months’ over property

Accused Reshma Shaikh. Pic/Hanif Patel

A 23-year-old woman was shocked to see bruises on her 15-month-old daughter and was taken aback when she learned that her sister-in-law was hurting her. Asma Sheikh, who would often leave her child, Rida, in the care of Reshma Sheikh while doing house chores, found out about the assault by setting up her mobile phone camera in the room one day. Asma and her husband have filed a complaint, and police said they have booked Reshma, 32, and are in the process of arresting her.

Police sources said Asma, her husband Firdaus Sheikh and their child lived with his father, elder brother Ferouz and his wife Reshma, at a flat at Nil Akash at Naya Nagar in Mira Road. Police said for the past few days, Asma had been noticing bruises on her child's body and enquired with the family members, who said that she might have fallen off the bed and got hurt. But she wasn't fully satisfied, as Rida would get hurt only when she left her at home, said an officer.

Her suspicions grew when Firdaus told her that he had once seen a hand pushing Rida during a video call. A couple of weeks back, Asma video-called her husband and gave the mobile phone to Rida and went to the bathroom. During the call with her daughter, Firdaus said he saw a hand pushing the child from behind. He told Asma about it after returning home in the evening, and asked her to set up the mobile camera one day.

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On September 14, she switched on the mobile phone's camera, set it up in the room while Rida was sleeping and went to the bathroom. She suddenly heard the girl crying and rushed to the room and saw her bleeding from the mouth. She consoled her daughter and then checked the mobile phone. The video recording showed Reshma thrashing Rida with slippers, and then pushing her down the bed. Asma then informed the entire family, following which the couple filed a police complaint.

"We have registered a case and booked the woman. We will arrest and produce the accused with the charge sheet within a couple of days. A notice has been summoned to her for the investigation," said Senior Inspector Jitendra Vankoti of Naya Nagar police station.

Sources said Reshma had been assaulting Rida for the past six months. During the probe, police learnt that she didn't want to live with Asma, so she used to assault Rida thinking they would go away. "After we filed the complaint, both Reshma and Ferouz fled the house. Both of them wanted us to get out of the house, as they wanted to occupy the house," Firdaus told mid-day.