Battered Baby Syndrome: A Barbaric Act

Abstract

Battered baby syndrome is a heinous crime and brutish act. Knowledge of such cases gives us the thought that we are still living in barbaric era. By the thought of such cases one gets goose bumps. The battered child refers to the child usually less than three years of age, though it may occur at any age, who suffers repeated non-accidental injuries, sometime fatal, caused through episodes of violence by a parent or guardian. Physicians have a duty and responsibility to the child to require a full evaluation of the problem and to guarantee that no expected repetition of trauma will be permitted to occur. Forensic expert also has an important role to play in uncovering the cases of battered baby syndrome. We present two incidences of battered baby syndrome aged 12 year and 5 year. The first was a male child who committed suicide by hanging after beaten repeatedly by her mother. The second case was a female child, admitted in our hospital pediatrics side beaten repeatedly by her father.