Physical abuse of abandoned children in India.

Child abuse and neglect, though existing in India, has not come to light because of underlying social constraints like poverty, malnutrition and infection. With an intention to study the problem of physical abuse in neglected children, patients admitted to the pediatric wards of our institution, predominantly with some form of physical abuse were specifically looked for from January 1976 onwards. Over a period of 4 1/2 years, 18 such cases were encountered. Most of the babies were less than four weeks of age, were predominantly females, were quite often premature or malnourished, and rarely had a physical deformity. These babies were deserted and later were found by police or social workers in gutters, dustbins, garbage tins, railway platforms, etc. The spectrum of abuse and injuries included newborn babies with intact placenta, at times lacerated, strangling marks on the throat, multiple bruises, bleeding from the umbilicus, avulsion of the scalp with severe bleeding, shock as a result of environmental stress (i.e., hypothermia), evidence of infection, rat bite marks, and fractures. The morbidity was very high, ultimately resulting in 88.9% mortality over varying periods of time, maximum survival being 22 days. The motive behind this abuse always was an unwanted baby.