8-Month-Old Rape Survivor Chhutki Needs One More Major Surgery

Over a month since Chhutki was raped allegedly by her own cousin, there’s still no chargesheet in sight.

It’s been almost a month and a half since an 8-month-old baby was raped in her home in north Delhi.

(Photo: The Quint)

It’s been almost a month and a half since an 8-month-old baby was raped in her home in north Delhi, and there’s still no chargesheet in sight. Chhutki, as The Quint started calling her, was left in the care of her relatives as her parents (her father, a daily wage labourer and her mother, a domestic help in houses nearby) went out for work on the morning of 28 January 2018. Her mother returned that Sunday morning to find her baby lying in a pool of her blood and stool, crying incessantly.

“We have all the material ready; we just haven’t been able to file the chargesheet yet. A lot of matters cropped up in the interim, but it should be filed within the next two days,” says Assistant Sub Inspector (ASI) of Netaji Subhas Place Police Station, Parvati, who is the Investigating Officer (IO) on this case.

The accused in this case is Chhutki’s 28-year-old cousin, Suraj, who was rounded up after a distraught mother filed a complaint to the cops the very day she found her baby raped and abandoned. Suraj reportedly confessed to the cops that he’d committed the crime under the influence of alcohol. He lived on the floor above Chhutki’s family in their Delhi flat – a flat which is also shared by other members of the infant’s extended family. When The Quint had asked them, in the weeks subsequent to the incident, about their whereabouts on the day, everyone reported having heard nothing.

On 16 February, The Quint, in association with BitGiving, started a crowdfunding campaign to #HelpChhutki, an 8-month-old rape survivor.(Photo: The Quint)

Chhutki Still Needs One Major Surgery

Chhutki, meanwhile, is showing positive signs of recovery.

She will need only one major surgery now, according to the doctors at AIIMS. They’ll operate on her on 17 April to seal the artificial opening they had created in her body. They’ve said that her internal injuries are also healing.

Chhutki’s father

Doctors had created an artificial opening in the lower abdomen for stool to pass – the rape has caused a tear in Chhutki’s vaginal and rectal wall, causing her to urinate and defecate from the same opening for days after it happened. Chhtuki was redirected to AIIMS hosiptal at a concerned directive from the Supreme Court, for better treatment. The SC also allocated Rs 75,000 for her medical needs, apart from paying for her initial surgeries – Chhutki had needed three.

The baby, who we are calling ‘Chhutki’, is still undergoing treatment after being raped and abandoned.(Photo: The Quint)

Both Chhutki’s mother and father have left their jobs to take care of the baby, and their older daughter, who is two. Last week, Chhutki’s father also travelled all the way to Kolkata – his wife’s hometown – to request his mother-in-law to come stay with them. He tells me:

I don’t have parents of my own and we could really use all the help we could get. Maine unhe bola hai, ki aap mat jao jab tak bacchi thik nahi ho jati (I’ve requested my mother-in-law not to leave us until our baby is perfectly fine).

For a family as hard-pressed as this one, Chhutki’s parents still need all the help they can get – both to cover the extensive medical treatment that Chhutki will need, over a long period of time, and to secure her (and her sister) a good education.

The Quint, in association with Bitgiving, has launched a crowdfunding campaign for the baby girl. You can help them by donating here.