Seven needles removed from body of 3-year-old girl allegedly abused by mother's employer

New Delhi: In yet another challenging surgical procedure, doctors at Kolkaka's SSKM Hospital on Tuesday successfully removed seven needles from the body of a three-year-old girl suspected to have been abused by her mother's employer.

As per reports, the girl from Purulia was initially brought to Bankura Sammilani Medical College by her mother. However, seeing her injuries, doctors there suspected foul play and referred her to SSKM and she was admitted to the hospital on Saturday in a critical condition.

During the operation, which took place on Tuesday, doctors found seven needles as long as 4 inches in length inside her body.

The surgery lasted more than two hours was performed by a team of doctors, including including a pediatric surgeon, gynaecologist, orthopedic and anaesthetist.

One of the doctors who operated on her said the girl had three needles in her liver, adding that removing those were the toughest part of the operation.

"The girl is doing fine after the successful surgery. But she needs to be kept under observation," Ajay Roy, Director of Institute of Post Graduate Medical education & Research (IPGMER), was quoted as saying.

Dr Roy added that they are looking all treatment options as she had several other injuries too.

Doctors said the girl was suffering from severe trauma due to alleged sexual assault from the man, Sanatan Thakur, forcing the medical board formed to carry out the treatment to delay the surgery till she became normal.

While police are on the lookout for the man, doctors said the child is recovering and is being kept in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit for 48 hours.