Indore: 18-month-old Baby Shireen has been admitted to a hospital in Indore with horrific signs of abuse. She has 11 cigarette burns on different parts of her body. Her hands have multiple fractures.
She was brought to hospital by her mother, Zarina, whose lover reportedly abused the baby for weeks. However, doctors attending to her say the baby's life is not in danger.
The details of baby Shireen's trauma echo the story of Baby Falak, who died in March after being treated for serious physical abuse at Delhi's AIIMS hospital. Like Falak, Shireen has battered baby syndrome, according to her doctors.
Zarina separated from her husband; the couple had three children; she then ran away with a man named Wahid to Ajmer. He reportedly abused her children and forced her into prostitution. Zarina managed to escape with her children and returned to Indore this week after which she took her children to hospital.
Wahid has been arrested.
