Five-year old boy to be shifted to Vellore hospital in TN

Thiruvananthapuram: The five-year-old-boy, who was brutally tortured by his father and step-mother, and recuperating at a hospital in Idukki district, will be shifted to Vellore Medical College Hospital in Tamil Nadu for further treatment, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Wednesday said. All expenses for the treatment of the boy from Idukki district would be met by the government, Chandy told reporters after a cabinet meeting here. Doctors attending to the boy at St John`s Hospital at Kattappana have said the boy needed neuro-rehabilitation and best treatment for it was in Vellore Medical College, Chandy said. The incident that happened a few weeks ago had triggered outrage in the state and, his father Sherif and step mother Aneesha were arrested and charged with attempt to murder. Taking a serious note of the incident, the Kerala government had formed an official panel to draw up guidelines to ensure children`s safety and said, if necessary, a separate law to check recurrence of such crimes would be made. The child had a serious head injury, a broken leg and had wounds all over the body when he was admitted. Besides these injuries, his body was found to have been scoured by nails. The couple, who brought the child to the hospital in a serious condition, had initially said the injuries were the result of a fall suffered by the child while taking bath. But doctors who examined the child immediately ruled that out and informed the police of the incident. PTI