Baby in building fall gets treated after dad's refusal

A 4-month-old baby girl who suffered injuries on Nov 30 after falling from a five-story building was finally hospitalized on Monday after her father had refused hospital treatment twice, according to a statement from the Youyi subdistrict in Shijiazhuang, Hebei province.

Her vital signs are stable, and social aid has been launched by relevant departments, the statement said on Tuesday.

Police have started looking into whether her mother has mental problems, and a local women's federation initiated a process to decide whether the father is qualified to be the girl's guardian.

On Nov 30, the girl fell from the fifth floor of the building where she lives onto the protective screen of the first floor.

"I looked out of my window after hearing a loud crash and found the girl," a neighbor living in the opposite building told the Beijing News. "She was only wearing a diaper."

Some neighbors called police and an ambulance. A passing deliveryman retrieved the baby with the help of a ladder, while the girl's father, surnamed Zheng, made his way home.

Zheng took the girl to hospital by the ambulance at the insistence of the police officers.

However, the neighbors discovered that the girl had been taken home the next day.

"I found no apparent trauma on my daughter's body," he told the Beijing News. "She will recover soon at home."

According to the subdistrict's statement, staff members took the girl to hospital for treatment on Dec 2 and 5, but Zheng took her back home immediately each time. On Monday, the baby was sent to hospital again.

The neighbors also told the Beijing News that the girl's mother, surnamed Wei, had been exhibiting abnormal behavior since the family moved to the residential community in October.

Since Zheng was not home at the time of the fall and the baby is too young to move itself, it is suspected that Wei threw the girl out of a window.

After continuous persuasion by community workers, Zheng finally agreed to send Wei to hospital where it can be determined if she has a mental illness.

"After examination, the girl was found to have sustained an intracranial hemorrhage," said Huang Bo, director of the second intensive care unit at Hebei Children's Hospital. "She is in severe condition and still in a coma."

"As statutory guardian of the girl, her father has the duty to raise and protect her," said Zhao Yunling, a lawyer with Dentons law firm in Shijiazhuang.

"His refusal to allow treatment for the girl may make him a suspect of the crime of abandonment."

Officials from the children's department of the provincial women's federation said relevant departments would discuss whether Zheng is suitable to be the girl's statutory guardian.