'Cigarettes burns, fatal head injury': Kerala toddler abused ‘extremely brutally’ by mother, her lover

AHeartbreaking and horrifying story has emerged from Kerala after a one-and-a-half-year-old bambino allegedly died followers weeks of unrelenting shout.The baby was rushed to a hospital in Thiruvananthapuram on May 31 after he began coughing and vomiting blood. He was living with his mother and her live-in partner. Doctors declared him brought dead.Suspicion first arose when the toddler's grandparents alleged that the child had been repeatedly abused by his mother and her partner. Acting on their complaint, police registered a case of unnatural death and arrested the two.Doctors who examined the body noted several healed scars, suggesting earlier injuries. The body was then sent for a post-mortem examination.What did the post-mortem reveal?The findings have shocked locals and investigators alike. According to police, the post-mortem found 51 injuries on the toddler's body, indicating that he had endured weeks of severe physical abuse before his death.Investigators said a combination of a fatal head injury and extensive internal trauma led to the child's death."The child was subjected to extremely brutal physical abuse," a senior police officer told PTI, citing information shared by doctors after the post-mortem examination."There was a combination of severe internal injuries and a fatal head injury. The medical evidence indicates that the child was subjected to systematic physical assaults over a period of two to three weeks prior to his death," the officer said.Among the most disturbing findings was that both of the toddler's arms had been fractured. Police suspect the child had allegedly become an obstacle to his mother and her partner's life together.Grandparents raised the alarmThe child's grandparents were the first to allege that repeated torture by the mother and her live-in partner may have caused the toddler's death.The maternal grandmother told a television channel that the child had numerous injuries across his body."He had no injuries when he was taken from my home by my daughter," the grandmother tearfully claimed."Subsequently, at the insistence of her partner, my daughter submitted a complaint to a DySP alleging that I was interfering in their affairs," she added.Both the child's paternal and maternal grandfathers alleged that there were circular burn marks across the toddler's body, which appeared to have been caused by cigarettes."There is no part of the child's body that was not injured," the maternal grandfather said.(With PTI inputs)