Sania needs family, not children's home: Doctors

Hyderabad: Child psychologists say Sania is already at a great loss without parents and the constant visits to court and the police stations could further trouble her.

Experts said the child should now be handed over to her family, instead of being admitted in a children’s home. They said that she will recover mentally only if she was with family.

Psychologists added that Sania may have been exposed to an extremely volatile atmosphere at home.  Police reports show her parents constantly fought and it is strongly believed the child may have been aware of the mother’s alleged affair.

“She needs to be  monitored by an expert. It really doesn’t matter what the mother was up to — she was the mother and the child will be more attached to the mother. In this case, we should also determine if the child had witnessed the mother’s murder, or not. If she has witnessed the crime, we can only imagine what she’s going through now,” senior psychiatrist Dr Padma Veerapaneni said.
She added that Sania will now have a tough time building trust with anyone as her mother’s murder may have left the girl feeling betrayed.

“Putting her in a children’s home will give her shelter, yes. But she needs more than that now. She needs every bit of affection that can come her way and giving her to family is the best way,” Dr Padma added. Experts said close watch must be kept on the child’s behaviour for the next few weeks.