Father Ashish Pareek claims son had an accident, not ‘Shaken Baby Syndrome’.
AB Wire
The American dream has become an American nightmare for an Indian family, with their two-month-old son placed in foster care by US child welfare officials after he was admitted to a local hospital with head injuries in New Jersey.
The son of Ashish Pareek, an employee of Tata Consultancy Services, and resident of Jersey City, had apparently slipped from his mother’s hand and hit his head on a TV stand before falling hard on the floor, according to his family, reported the Press Trust of India.
According to Pareek, the baby was rushed to a hospital. He was first taken to the emergency unit of Christ Hospital and subsequently transferred to St. Peter’s Hospital, which involved the Department of Child Protection and Permanency (DACPP).
Local authorities said the child suffered from ‘Shaken Baby Syndrome’. They didn’t agree with the parents’ version that the infant had hurt himself when he fell off the bed while playing.
The New Jersey DCPP had said that the parents neglected to take proper care of their child, reported PTI.
The parents were not given permission to meet their son while in hospital, the report said.
After the recovery, the baby was handed over by child welfare officials to foster care last week.
The parents have said that it was an accident and deny claims by US authorities that they had tried to harm the child, according to Pareek’s family.
Pareek’s wife Vidisha delivered the baby in October. They have been living in the US since August.
The Indian Consulate said it is in contact with local authorities as well as the child’s parents but said legal procedures will have to be followed in the case since it has gone to court.
“The Consulate of India in New York is in touch with all concerned authorities including the parents and also the local authorities in this (case). However since the case has to be taken up in the court, the procedure has to take place which should not take long,” the Consulate said in a statement.
In 2012, another Indian couple in New Jersey had been denied custody of their one-year old son after he had sustained serious head injuries at his home and had to undergo surgery.
The Indian Express reported that the Pareek family, who emigrated from Jaipur to the US, has appealed to the Ministry of External Affairs to help get their son back.
In a letter to Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj, Ashish Pareek, a project manager with Tata Consultancy Services said he had travelled to the US on August 10, 2015.
His wife, Vidisha had delivered a boy, whom they named Ashvid, on October 21. However, on December 23, while they were getting ready to take the child to a pediatrician, he slipped from Vidisha’s hands, sustaining injuries on his head.
“He was in the ICU for a week but on the eighth day, when he was discharged, the authorities took him away,” Ashish’s brother Abhishek Pareekh, who is in Jaipur, told The Indian Express. The family insists the fall was accidental. “Since being taken into custody, Ashvid is deprived of mother’s milk and the parents are allowed to meet him for only a few hours a day,” Abhishek said.
On Thursday, the couple’s relatives also met Rajasthan Home Secretary Sandeep Verma, who assured them of taking the matter up with the Union Home Ministry. The couple has moved court in the US.