Kamal Ghorui
NOIDA: Badly beaten, starved for days and tortured by a CRPF constable and his wife, a 10-year-old girl lies alone in a hospital bed in Greater Noida, hooked to a ventilator and fighting for her life all alone. The child, from Malda district in West Bengal, was brought to Greater Noida by the couple just 40 days ago and was employed as a domestic helper at their official residence.
Last week, she was allegedly brutally assaulted by them and later admitted to a hospital in an unconscious state. Medical examinations revealed fractured ribs, deep wounds to her head and chest, signs of prolonged starvation and dangerously low haemoglobin levels of just 1.9. Abandoned by her father after he remarried, the child was left in the care of her mother, who is suffering from mental health issues and is unable to look after the family. The girl was the eldest of six children—five sisters and a younger brother aged just two—and had effectively become their primary caregiver.“The father walked out of the family last year, leaving the children in an extremely vulnerable situation,” said a senior official from the child welfare department. “Despite being only 10, she was taking care of all her siblings,” the official said.The family, already on the margins, survived on food and help offered by neighbours and distant relatives in Malda. Around 40 days ago, Rimpa Khatun, a distant relative, brought her to the CRPF official residence in Greater Noida, saying she would be cared for and would help look after her two young sons, aged two and four. Khatun’s husband, Tariq Anwar, is a CRPF constable currently posted in the area.
Relatives believed the move would give the child a better life. “People thought she would be safe there,” the official said. “They believed regular meals and a stable home would be guaranteed, unlike in Malda, where the children often depended on leftovers from neighbours in their makeshift settlement.”Instead, police said, the child was subjected to repeated abuse. “On Jan 14 night, the couple allegedly kicked and punched the child and smashed her head against a wall during an argument over household work,” an officer said. When the girl collapsed and began bleeding, they rushed her to Sarvodaya Hospital in Greater Noida.At the hospital, they told doctors, the child had slipped in the bathroom. Medical staff, however, suspected prolonged physical abuse and prepared a medico-legal report, alerting the police. Doctors who examined her found multiple old and fresh injuries, dark circles under her eyes, deep wounds to the head and chest, swelling in her legs and evidence of severe malnutrition. The injuries, doctors said, were inconsistent with a single accident.As her condition worsened, she was referred to Max Hospital in Sector 128, where she remains on ventilator support. Both Anwar and Khatun were arrested on Monday on charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder under BNS Section 110. The Central Reserve Police Force has since suspended Anwar pending further investigation.The Child Welfare Committee (CWC) has declared the girl a child in need of care and protection and directed that she be given the best possible medical treatment, irrespective of cost. Officials said no charges would be recovered from the family.“The priority right now is her survival,” said CWC (Noida) chairperson Dr KC Virmani. “She is critically injured and entirely alone. Everything else will come later.”Following the incident, distant relatives travelled from Malda to Noida after being informed by police. The girl’s mother has not been able to make the journey due to her mental condition, officials said. “The child’s guardianship is under serious question. We made it clear to her relatives that she will not be handed over to them until all statements are recorded and the police inquiry is complete,” said Virmani. The committee told TOI that it was monitoring the case closely and would decide on further legal steps once the child’s condition stabilises and her statement is recorded.
