Another Falak is born, this time in B'lore

She has a severe head injury, bite marks all over her body and is on life support in a Bangalore hospital. The shocking case of three-month-old Afreen - allegedly battered by her own father, as he wanted a male child - came to light yesterday. Afreen, who was allegedly tortured on Thursday, has suffered brain haemorrhage, doctors attending to her at the government-run Vani Vilas Hospital in Bangalore said.

Battered: Like baby Falak (in picture), three-month-old Afreen too has severe head injury, which led to haemorrhage, and bite marks on several parts of her body. File pic

The baby's father Umar Farook (25), was arrested on Sunday evening following a complaint filed by his 19-year-old wife Reshma Banu, police said. The case comes close on the heels of battered baby Falak, who died late last month at the reputed All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi after battling for life for nearly two months.

‘Father wanted son'
Police said Afreen's mother Reshma told them that Farook, who works in a shop in the busy Shivajinagar area of Bangalore's central business district, had been frequently torturing the baby to kill her, as he wanted a son.Police said besides severe head injury, leading to hemorrhage, there were bite marks on several parts of the baby's body. The baby is on ventilator and doctors said only after two days of observation could they comment on her chances of recovery.

Farook, however, told a TV channel that he has not tortured the baby. Asked why then his wife was asserting that he had done so, he said, "I don't know." Reshma and Farook were married in December 2010, police said.

Revelation
The incident came to light after doctors at the Vani Vilas Hospital informed the state Child Welfare Committee about the admission of a tortured baby. The committee in turn alerted police. In New Delhi, Shanta Sinha, chairperson of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), described the incident as "shocking" and said an inquiry will be conducted.

"Really it's shocking, alarming...the man has to be booked for attempting to murder the child," Sinha said. "We will certainly call for an inquiry... but I think somewhere the government has to keep a watch on every girl born." Referring to an incident in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, where a newborn baby girl was abandoned by two couples fighting over a baby boy last month, Sinha said, "...some are denying they had a girl... There is an all pervasive atmosphere that does not welcome a girl's arrival."