Malappuram/Edappal: Eleven-year-old nomadic girl who was attacked by a local former CPM panchayat president at Edappal on Sunday has been shifted to Thrissur Medical College Hospital for better medical care.
The girl had to wait long for medical attention after locals got her to the Edappal Family Health Clinic, it is alleged.
Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala said the family was waiting in the corridor when he reached the clinic. He called the district police chief on phone and expedited proceedings.
Once in hospital, she could not lift her head because of pain. Her relatives tried to console her. She wiped the blood that oozed down from the wound and dripped off her jaws.
She was initially shifted to the Taluk Hospital after locals demanded she be scanned for internal injuries. Her family members left the hospital with the girl as doctors were analysing the scan reports. They said all the noise scared them.
The family wanted to leave the hospital as soon as possible since no work meant no money to subsist. They even sneaked out of it only to be brought back by police and childline workers. The police sought childline help to track them down. They were found in Edappal and brought back to the hospital.
The girl belongs to a nomadic family from Andhra Pradesh. They have been living in Anakkara near here for the last 11 years.
The family of five lives in a rented house. They would split up and take up different zones to scavenge. That is how she ended up reaching the house in Edappal the other day.
Kerala and its language were alien to her. There was no one who would come for her help if needed. Poverty pushed her to pick up scrap from the streets.
Locals had tried to admit the girl in a school twice. But she walked out of class on both occasions.
She was attacked by the former president of Vattamkulam panchayat when he found her trying to pick some scrap from his property.
