Mahaica toddler Rebeka Seetaram, who was bitten about her body by rats at her home two weeks ago, died at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH) late Monday afternoon.
The child, who was 20 months old, died after undergoing emergency surgery at the hospital.
The toddler’s two siblings, ages five and six, meanwhile, have been taken into custody by the Child Care and Protection Agency (CCPA), with Director Ann Greene saying that they would not be returned to their parents until a thorough investigation is done. “The two are survivors but there are obvious signs of social abandonment and physical neglect,” Greene added, noting that they cannot be returned to a situation that claimed the life of their sibling.
Although Stabroek News had reported that the child was severely bitten on her ears and her tongue by the rodents, her father, Suresh Seetaram, a labourer, said yesterday that he was sure that she did not sustain those wounds at home.
Accompanied by his pregnant wife, the man admitted that the toddler was bitten by rats on her right foot two weeks ago, while at the family’s home along a dam at Belmont, Mahaica. He said he took her to the Mahaicony Hospital after she became ill and she was given an injection and was subsequently transferred to the GPH for further treatment. According to him, when he and his wife visited his daughter two days later, she was placed in the Intensive Care Unit. “She whole tongue eat out and she ears an all look bite up,” he said, reiterating that he was sure that the rodents did not bite his daughter’s tongue or her ears.
He said that his daughter’s condition worsened until her death on Monday.
‘Tough’
Seetaram explained that he and his family live under “tough” conditions. They all slept on the ground, he said, since he was too poor to afford a bed. Parts of the floor of their modest home, he added, are made of mud and he used insecticide to keep the rodents at bay. But he noted that where the house is located, “it gat plenty rats and so and me been trying to fix the whole situation.”
Meanwhile, Seetaram revealed that the social services officials visited his home last week and “them tek away my wife other two children.” The children were born through a different union and Seetaram noted that his wife is expecting his second child in a few months. He said that his family was told that another relative would have to take custody of the two children.
Greene told Stabroek News yesterday that the children are in the temporary care of the CCPA, pending a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of their sibling as well as their living conditions.
She added that reports are that the children never attended school and that they are uneducated. Their children’s pregnant mother, she noted, is being assisted by the agency as officials are trying to ensure that she is getting “the proper care,” including a healthy clinic attendance record. The two children lived temporarily with their parents and grandmother, and Greene said that from all indications the grandmother was their main caretaker but she too was negligent. She said that there are reports of the highest level of social dysfunction within the extended family.
A post-mortem examination will be performed on Rebeka Seetaram’s remains on Friday.
