Battered baby Falak's sister found in Bihar, search on for brother

The three-year-old sister of battered baby Falak, who is undergoing treatment in AIIMS, has been traced by Delhi Police to Bihar while searches are on to locate their elder brother, police said today.

Sanobar, the elder sister of Falak, was located in Muzaffarpur yesterday, a day after investigators managed to locate their mother Munni, who was tricked into a second marriage allegedly by three women.

Efforts are on to locate their five-year-old brother.

Falak, meanwhile, has shown no signs of improvement and remains in a critical condition.

"Her condition is the same as yesterday. She is critical but stable. She has not been able to breathe on her own and that is why she needs ventilatory support," Dr Deepak Agarwal, neurosurgeon with the hospital, said.

Falak was brought to the AIIMS Trauma Centre on January 18 with severe head injury, both her arms broken, bite marks all over her body and her cheeks branded with hot iron.

Falak's case came to light late last month after the two-year-old girl was admitted to AIIMS by a teenaged girl, who herself was a victim of a prostitution racket. The teenager was handed over Falak by her boyfriend.

"The second baby girl of Munni has been brought to Delhi. She was medically examined at Safdurjung hospital. The Child Welfare Committee chairperson has been informed. She was sent to Child Home as per the chairperson's directions.

"She was found at a neighbour's house of Laxmi's relative. There is no adoption racket," Chhaya Sharma, Deputy Commissioner of Police (South), said.

The tracing of the girl, Sanobar, came after police questioned one Laxmi, who allegedly tricked the young mother Munni into a second marriage, along with her associate Kanta Choudhry.

Laxmi and her associates had allegedly arranged her marriage with a 25-year-old youth in Rajasthan, who could not find a bride for himself. He was made to pay Rs two lakh to the women for arranging for a bride.

"Laxmi had convinced the young woman that her three children will be taken care of if she agreed to the second marriage. After her husband abandoned her, one of Laxmi's associate approached her and promised that they could arrange a second marriage.

"The woman came to Delhi where she was told that she could marry the man without telling him about her children. She was asked to tell her second husband about it later and then if he allowed, she could get back her children," a senior police official said.

Immediately after Falak's admission, doctors conducted a life saving surgery on her brain and another two were undertaken at a later date. Doctors said that she needs to undergo more such surgeries but they have been put on hold as infection level in her blood has not receded.

The forensic department has conducted a DNA test to help determine her paternity. Experts have confirmed that the bite marks found on her body are that of a human, Dr Agarwal said.

The infection in her blood is being monitored closely.

"We are conducting culture reports on everyday basis to see the level of infection present in her body. Once the reports come negative, we are assured that she is responding positively to the treatment," Agarwal said.

He said Falak will have to live with tracheotomy conducted on her for some time.