Two-year old girl seriously injured after alleged fall from sofa

A two-year old girl is in critical condition after she allegedly fell from a sofa while in the care of the partner of the child’s mother in Barangay Pinagbuhatan, Pasig City.

According to a State of the Nation report by Mark Salazar on Wednesday, the incident occurred last Monday when a man asked help from authorities for an unconscious child.

The child’s grandmother filed a blotter report with the local Violence Against Women and Children (VAWC) desk the next day.

“Ang sabi kasi sinaktan. Allegedly lang po,” said the Barangay’s VAWC head Roberta Menoza.

(They said she was hurt. Only allegedly.)

When VAWC and barangay officials paid a visit to the victim at the hospital, the mother said she was in Quiapo at the morning of the incident but was able to get updates from her partner via chat.

The woman’s partner denied there was child abuse involved, claiming it was an accident.

Meanwhile, the child’s aunt claimed it was impossible for a simple fall that caused the child’s condition.

“Kung iyon po ay simpleng bagsak lang sa sofa, hindi po yun ganoon ka-grabe ang mangyayari sa bata kasi yung parte po ng tiyan niya may malaking pasa po siya umabot pa sa tagiliran na parang siyang pinuwersa,” she said.

(If it was only a simple fall from a sofa, the injury wouldn’t be too severe because a part of her stomach has a big bruise that reached her side that seemed as though she was physically forced.)

“Tinanong ko po sa kaniya. Sabi ko, kung yun ay nahulog lang sa sofa bakit maraming pasa? Ang sagot po niya sakin ay siya daw po ang may gawa ng pasa, pinalo daw niya pero sariwa po yung pasa eh. Imaginin ninyo po, sariwa yung pasa. Kung yan ay pinalo, hindi ho ganoon. Parang may mga kurot po eh,” she added.

(I asked the mother. I said, if that was just a fall from the sofa, why does she have so many bruises? She answered that she made those bruises, she spanked the child but the bruises were fresh. Imagine that, the bruises were fresh. If that came from a spanking, it wouldn’t be like that. It’s like she was pinched)

The aunt and the child’s biological father intend to file a case against the child’s mother and partner once medical examination results have been released.

GMA Integrated News has reached out to the child’s mother, who was caring for the child in the ICU and has since turned off her phone. —Jiselle Anne Casucian/RF, GMA Integrated News