Her eyes are open but look no where. Call her by her name, she looks at you for a split second before her gaze slips away.
The only person who has been able to hold Monisha’s gaze is her grandmother but even to her she does not respond beyond a lost look. The five-year-old was on Thursday shifted from the ICU to special ward in the M S Ramaiah Hospital, where she was admitted on December 25 after she survived an alleged murder attempt by her mother.
Monisha’s parents committed suicide for reasons unknown. A traumatised child was rescued by her relatives after almost 36 hours of the tragedy.
“Her condition is much more stable now, which is why we have decided to move her to the special ward. She is more conscious and is on nasogastric feeding. Her convulsions are also under control. But she doesn’t communicate anything. She breaks down when we ask her questions,” said her doctor, Dr Karunakara B P, associate professor of Paediatrics, M S Ramaiah Hospital.
The lack of responses could be because Monisha’s brain has suffered “extensive hypoxic insult because of the strangulation,” said the doctor quoting her MRI report. Monisha also has weakness in her neck and limbs, for which she is undergoing physiotherapy. “But she hasn’t shown much recovery in that area. We can’t say how much time she will take to gain strength in the neck and limbs,” he said.
Family support
Monisha’s maternal grandparents have come forward to take her home once she is discharged from the hospital.
Her grandfather, H V Veeranagowda, a businessman from Kunigal taluk, is aware of the fact that Monisha will need lot of care and support and that she will be bedridden till she gains enough strength to walk.
Monisha’s trauma is not just physical. “When she was admitted to the hospital, she told us that her mother tried to strangulate her. She used to weep inconsolably recounting the event. We didn’t want to pressurise her then as she was very unwell but now she doesn’t talk at all. What happened that night only she knows. Nobody else knows how long she was there with her dead parents alone in the house before she was rescued. We are going to take the help of psychiatrists, psychologists and counsellors to help her overcome the trauma. It may be a very long procedure.”
Medical Director, M S Ramaiah Hospital Dr Naresh Shetty said that in treating difficult paediatric cases, doctors seek the help of the child’s mother.
