Police are investigating the death of eight-month-old Reshma Deodat, who was allegedly punched in her head by her father when she was just two months old.
Crime Chief Leslie James informed Stabroek News yesterday that the police have been unable to make contact with the father of the infant since her death. He said too that the infant’s mother maintains that the baby fell out of her hands. “But we are still investigating the matter,” he stated.
Six months after Reshma was allegedly punched in her head by her father during a fight with her mother, she succumbed to her injuries at the Georgetown Public Hospital on April 25. An autopsy report showed that Reshma died of inflammation in the brain.
She had undergone surgery at the hospital for excessive fluid in her head and haemorrhaging in the brain. Her grandmother Bibi Shakira Alrasheed told Stabroek News that the child sustained a fractured skull when she was accidentally punched in the head at just two months old.
Alrasheed said her daughter, who was living in an abusive relationship for months, related to her that she was sweeping her yard when the baby began to cry and she went into the house to check on her. She stated that the son-in-law became angry when he noticed that the yard was not swept and started to slap her daughter. It was during that time Reshma was allegedly punched in her head.
Alrasheed indicated that her daughter’s story had shifted several times; she said her daughter first told her that the baby fell of the bed and then she later told her that she was nursing the child when she fell asleep and Reshma dropped out of her hands and fell.
She stated that she believed that her daughter was trying to shield her husband from the police.
Head of the Child Care and Protection Agency Ann Greene stated that the agency was also looking into the matter.
