Battered Bangalore baby dies, father faces murder charge

Bangalore, April 11 (IANS) Afreen, the three-month-old Bangalore girl battered by her father who wanted a son, died Wednesday in a hospital here after battling for life for several days. Her father Umar Farook is being charged with murder, police said.

Afreen, who had suffered brain haemorrhage and had bite marks on several parts of the body as well as burn injuries, died at 11.10 a.m. shortly after suffering a cardiac arrest, doctors at the government-run Vani Vilas hospital said.

The baby had been admitted to the hospital late Saturday, a day after her 19-year-old mother Reshma Bhanu noticed the injuries. She told police that her husband did not allow her to take the baby immediately to the hospital.

Farook, 25, a car painter in Bangalore, was arrested late Sunday on a complaint from Reshma Bhanu and was charged with attempted murder.

Soon after Afreen passed away, police told reporters that Farook would be charged with murder. He has been sent to jail till April 21 by a Bangalore court.

"The baby suffered cardiac arrest at 10.40 a.m. We tried resuscitation. She passed away at 11.10 a.m.," Some Gowda, medical superintendent of the Vani Vilas Hospital, told reporters.

The baby was on ventilation and life support since Sunday and doctors attending to her had said Tuesday it would take at least three weeks for them to conclude whether she would survive or not.

Besides brain haemorrhage due to a severe head injury, bite marks and burn injuries, the baby suffered convulsions. Her condition worsened Wednesday morning and went into a semi-comatose state, doctors said.

Reshma Bhanu, the daughter of a fruit vendor, was inconsolable as doctors broke the tragic news to her.

The Karnataka State Human Rights Commission has asked Bangalore police for a report on the tragedy.

Reshma and her father claimed that they had refused to take note of their complaints of Farook harassing them for dowry.

The Commission has sent a notice to Bangalore city police commissioner B. G. Jyothi Prakash Mirji to personally oversee the case and report in two weeks, a commission spokesperson told reporters.