Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: The battle to save baby Falak continues. Doctors at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) trauma centre here are keeping a close watch on the two-year-old baby who is in intensive care unit and on ventilator support.
Doctors, who had carried out a brain surgery on Monday, had yesterday dubbed the next 48 hours till Thursday as crucial for the baby, who is now under a range of antibiotics for brain and chest infection.
In a bid to drain out the water that has accumulated in the baby’s brain, doctors attached a pipe from the spinal cord to the brain but that does not seem to have made much of a difference.
The Delhi Police, meanwhile, continue to piece together the series of events that led to the baby being abandoned and find the main accused, Rajkumar Gupta. The police said they were close to solving the case after crucial leads were found on Monday.
Sources said they have identified the location of Munni, a mother of four, who could be the biological mother of the baby and had left her in the house of one Laxmi in Uttam Nagar area of West Delhi.
Laxmi had handed over the baby to Rajkumar alias Dilshad (28), who left the girl with his minor girlfriend before heading to Mumbai for the treatment of his son.
Falak was admitted to AIIMS on January 18 with multiple injuries, including a fractured skull, human bite marks on her tiny frame and a clot on the right side of her brain, by the teenager. The teenager is now in a juvenile home.
According to sources, Munni has reportedly got married and is on the radar of police. She could be arrested anytime now.
Some unconfirmed reports even claimed that Munni has already been arrested.
"Baby Falak continues to be in a critical condition. There is no material change in her condition. Infection is the cause for concern," MC Misra, chief of the AIIMS trauma centre, said yesterday.
"We are covering with a possible spectrum of antibiotics which may help. Once we get culture report (of the fluids in the brain), the next 72 hours to 5 days (to Sunday) are very crucial for this child," Misra added.
Earlier, a doctor put her chances of survival at less than 50 percent.
"There is no surgery lined up for now. Her chances of survival are low. Even though it is difficult to put an exact number, it is less than 50 percent," Deepak Agrawal, assistant professor, neurosurgery, at the trauma centre said.
The toddler, who underwent a second brain surgery on Monday, is suffering from infection in her chest and brain, and is still on ventilator. "We are just watching the child for now," the doctor said.
Showing faint flicker of hope to the team of doctors monitoring the toddler’s condition, the baby continues to be in the same neurological condition even as she opens her eyes and blinks.
"She opens her eyes and blinks. We are very fortunate that she has maintained her neurological condition," said Sumit Sinha, associate professor of neurosurgery at AIIMS.
"If she does not respond to the antibiotics within 24 to 48 hours, we have to see what is to be done," Sinha added.
Police said their first priority is to catch the main accused, Rajkumar Gupta, and then to determine the baby’s parentage. A police team is in Mumbai where he is believed to be present but is yet to find him.
The 15-year-old teenager, who is in a juvenile home, will be questioned by a child welfare committee which will decide about her custody, police sources said.
(With agency inputs)
First Published: Wednesday, February 01, 2012, 10:55