Kattapana:
13 days after being admitted to hospital in a severely battered state, a five-year old Kerala boy who was allegedly brutalized and tortured by his own parents for years, continues to battle for his life.
After a major surgery four days ago, the child is able to breathe without support and tries to move his limbs and eyelids, but doctors say he is still not out of danger.
Beaten mercilessly by his father and stepmother for two years, the child was brought to St. John's hospital by his father with horrifying injuries all over his body, including multiple fractures, burn marks and extensive damage to his brain and lungs.
Doctors said his brain is 75% damaged and it could be permanent.
The child's father, a labourer, initially claimed that he got injured after falling off a ladder.
However, alarmed by the child's condition, doctors alerted the Child Welfare Committee and the police and the shocking truth finally came out. According to sources, the man and his wife later confessed to beating the child. Both of them have been arrested and booked for attempt to murder.
On July 21, the child underwent a tracheotomy surgery, which allows him to breathe without his nose or mouth. Doctors said he was responding positively to it.
Churches in Kerala have been holding regular prayers for the boy.