Panel summons baby Afrin's grandparents

The Child Welfare Committee (CWC) - probing the attempt to murder of three-month-old Neha Afrin Banu by her father Omar Farooq - has summoned Farooq’s parents on Friday.

According to Meena Jain, chairperson of CWC, Farooq and his parents never wanted a girl child in the family. On Tuesday, CWC recorded the statement of Reshma Banu - the baby’s mother - running into more than eight pages.  

“Afrin’s case is just a tip of the iceberg. There may be many such cases in Bangalore,” said Jain.

The Karnataka State Legal Services Authority has come forward to fight Reshma’s case.
According to her statement to CWC, Farooq had been torturing her since marriage. After the birth of Afrin, Farooq had been trying to kill the baby and tortured it many times by burning its body parts with cigarette butts and biting her many times.

Reshma has said that her husband had stuffed the baby’s mouth with a scarf, covered it with a blanket and pushed a pillow against her face when Reshma was not around. The baby would have died at Farooq’s hands, had it not been for Reshma’s timely intervention.

The mother said she was averse to marrying Omar Farooq, as it was a second marriage for him and there was a huge age difference between her and Farooq. But she was forced into the marriage due to family compulsions. She said after he tried to kill the baby, she feared for her life too and had decided to fight him legally. She said: “I want my husband to be taught a lesson.” Her family members too are determined to take him on.

Reshma’s mother, Maqbool Bi recalled how her son-in-law Farooq did not even want to look at the new born baby in the labour ward and denigrated her daughter for having a girl.

Still critical

The baby suffers from respiratory problems, has convulsions and melena (discharge of blood with stool). She has a neck dislocation and subarachnoid haemorrhage, caused after she was hit against a wall.

According to Dr Gangadhar Belawadi of Vani Vilas Hospital, the child is still critical and is on ventilator. She has undergone blood transfusion. The treatment is being given free of cost by the hospital. Farooq has been taken into judicial custody from police custody.