By Ashraf Padanna/Thiruvananthapuram
Shafeeq, the five-year-old torture victim of father and stepmother who was admitted to Vellore’s Christian Medical College (CMC) hospital a year back in a critical condition, will return to a “hero’s welcome” in Kerala today after the second phase of treatment.
He will be admitted to the Al Azhar Super Speciality Hospital in Thodupuzha town where its authorities have prepared a special room for him with all amenities of a play school.
The nursemaid who helped him to limp back to life will also stay with him.
Dr M K Muneer, the state’s social welfare minister who had earlier visited him at the Vellore hospital, will be present at the hospital to receive him at 11am today.
The boy was shifted to CMC on August 9 last year from a local hospital where he was admitted on July 16 with a 75% damaged brain, broken leg and wounds burns all over the body allegedly inflicted by his father Shereef and stepmother Aneesha.
He was brought to the hospital by the couple who subjected the child to the brutality beyond imagination allegedly to get rid of him.
They told doctors that he had injuries from a fall but they soon realised that it was a lie and informed the police who arrested them later.
The couple starved the child and kept unattended for a day after he lost consciousness in their rented house in the tourist town of Kumily near Thekkady.
The police later recovered the piece of iron pipe used to torture the child. His body was scoured by nails.
They were again charged with torturing Shafeeq’s elder brother Shafin, also from Sherif’s first marriage, lodged in the Thodupuzha Himayathul Muslimoon Orphanage (MMO) along with his stepsister Asiniya, who is from his mother’s first marriage.
Shafin, who showed scars of torture on his body, also told the police that the couple tried to throttle him by holding on to the neck and left him hungry several times. His stepsister had also given evidence against their parents.
Still wheelchair-bound, Shafeeq has regained 70% of normal health, according to doctors. He recognizes colours and communicates with people though his speech is unclear. His weight has also improved to 25.5kg.
He will be under the surveillance of a team of 17 doctors at the hospital, including neurologists, paediatricians and physiotherapists. He will turn six on September 3.
“He will be admitted to an observation ward before being shifted to the special room where we have arranged all facilities,” said K M Moosa, chairman of the Al Azhar group and treasurer of the MMO.
He has a spacious air-conditioned room with a carpet area of 500sq ft where a fridge, washing machine, music system and other facilities are arranged along with plenty of toys and walls decorated with Mickey Mouse, Tom and Jerry and other cartoon characters to help him regain mental and physical health.
The hospital authorities have temporarily ‘adopted’ him. They will bear all his expenses, including the salary and allowances of Ragini, the caretaker appointed by the state government that footed his bills so far.
She joined him on August 17 and she was with him during his first hospitalization at the CMC and his stay at the state-run Swadhar Shelter near Thodupuzha and his return to CMC for the second phase of treatment and rehabilitation therapy.
“They had brought the child to the orphanage two years before the incident but we could not admit him as he had not attained the mandatory age of five. We have got an opportunity now for paying back that debt,” said Moosa.
A file photo of Shafeeq at the hospital in Vellore.
