Mother charged with assault
Mother charged with assault
Autopsy: Boy died as result of 'blunt force head trauma'.
02 March 2006
Allen Essex
Valley Morning Star
Mar. 2--HARLINGEN -- The mother of a 10-month-old boy from India has been charged with aggravated assault in connection with her adopted child's death, the woman's attorney said.
A preliminary autopsy report released by Cameron County Justice of the Peace David Garza lists the cause of death as "blunt force head trauma."
E. Smitha Chakravarthy, the boy's adoptive mother, and her husband, E.V.R. Chakravarthy, are represented by Brownsville lawyer Reynaldo Garza III. The parents obtained a temporary restraining order to prevent Valley Baptist Medical Center-Harlingen from removing life support from the boy until after Feb. 25 for religious reasons.
The child, E.V.R. Rohit Chakravarthy, was considered brain dead at 9:30 a.m. Feb. 20 by doctors at Valley Baptist, after a Feb. 16 accident in Mission in which the child rolled off a bed while sleeping with his mother, the family's lawsuit states.
The child was first taken to a hospital in Mission and then transferred to Harlingen, the couple's attorney said on Wednesday.
Judge Menton Murray Jr. granted a temporary restraining order preventing the hospital from disconnecting life support devices until after Feb. 25.
"It is my opinion that the (child)... died as a result of blunt force head trauma," states Dr. Norma Jean Farley, who performed the autopsy. "There are skull fractures ... hemorrhages ... scalp contusions, all consistent with severe blunt head trauma. There are also multiple patterned injuries, especially on the lower extremities, consistent with bite marks."
Valley Baptist officials declined to comment on the case "because it is a patient matter," hospital spokesman Michael Swartz said.
The reason the restraining order was requested is that Hindus consider it bad luck to die on a Tuesday, the couple's lawsuit states.
The boy's adoptive grandparents had also called from India to insist the child not be allowed to die before Thursday because they had read astrological signs, the lawsuit states.
Dr. Nanjapa Sreenivas, a Harlingen doctor from India, said Hindus believe in reincarnation and believe certain times on Tuesdays are unlucky times to die.
It is also likely the grandparents consulted a guru to get an astrological reading and determine that a miracle could happen on Thursday, the doctor said.
Attorney Garza, of Brownsville, said his clients are very loving people who adopted the boy after trying for a long time to have a child of their own.
"Why would they spend thousands of dollars to travel here from India to show the boy off to relatives?" he said.
"They do not seem to be the type of people who would be child abusers," he said. "They have been fully cooperative and have given statements to police."
The parents do not believe the marks on the child's legs are bite marks, Garza said. They believe the marks are a rash.
The couple has offered dental impressions, DNA samples and agreed to allow an autopsy to be performed, even though that is not in accordance with their Hindu faith, Garza said. They have provided still pictures and videotape of the child crawling, to show how he may have fallen off the bed while the mother was sleeping with it.
The couple has been fully cooperative with the Mission Police Department, which is investigating the case, Garza said. The couple also do not understand the American legal system and are terrified, their attorney said.
The Indian consulate has offered the couple assistance, he said.
Copyright (c) 2006, Valley Morning Star, Harlingen, Texas
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