Kannur: Two-year-old Niya sounded worried, depressed and confused, and is not talking to anyone. She seemed as though something had shut her ears from hearing the sounds. Born deaf, Niya was introduced to the world of sounds only four months ago. After undergoing a cochlear implant surgery at Kozhikode Government Medical College Hospital, Niya had started recognising different sounds and learnt to talk.

Thrice a week, her parents used to take her to the Medical College Hospital for speech therapy. During one of those journeys last Saturday someone snatched away the speech processor of cochlear implant while on the lady's coach of Chennai-Egmore train. Now, little Niya is not able to hear without the expensive device worth a whopping Rs 4 lakhs. She can't afford to buy a new one either, as her parents, who are daily wage labourers, had already spent everything they had to treat their daughter.

The thieves must have mistook the device for some precious metal. So chances are high that they discard the device as soon as they realize it would be of no use to them. So Niya and her paents are keeping their fingers crossed with the firm belief that they would somehow get back the hearing aid. Niya's father K P Rajesh can be contacte at 9847746711