Bicycle fall did not lead to Maya's death: doctor

The dentist neighbour who was the first medical professional to check on the 4-year-old Maya, who was allegedly battered to death by her stepmother, told the Dubai Criminal Court that the fall from the bicycle could not have led to her death. GM, 47, a Syrian dentist was rushed to the house to check on the little girl after falling from her old bicycle. “The girl was sitting on a sofa, she had a disturbed consciousness. Checking on her, I noticed a minor bruise in the girl’s head... there was no fracture in the skull. However, the girl’s skin was yellow, and her lips were blue... she was very cold and going unconscious for some minutes... her iris was not responding to light. "The change of her colour and coldness prove that the girl had internal bleeding that could not be of the head injury, which was very minor. Her condition could not be sustained from falling from a cycle. I asked the family to rush the girl to a hospital,” testified the neighbour. "I went with the family to the hospital and a paediatric doctor provided her with first aid. He pressed on her chest for a couple of times before giving her oxygen. The dentist refuted that the aid provided at the hospital could have caused the little girl injuries and internal bleeding in the belly as the lawyer was trying to claim in his client's defence." The jury listened again to the forensic doctor who responded to and comment on a medical consultation report. The forensic doctor insisted that the internal bleeding could alone have caused the girl’s death. “Having 500ml of blood in her belly is not a minimal amount... she could have continued bleeding until she died... however, the head injuries that caused brain oedema (swelling) had expedited her death because it negatively affected the functioning of vital organs. In addition to that, the girl sustained injuries at different sides of the brain that could not have been caused by one fall from the bicycle,” assured the forensic doctor. The husband of the accused RM, 38, bank employee, testified that the emergency doctor had pressed with his fingers on his daughter’s belly while his palms were around her back. “Maya had a very tiny body ... the doctor have put his two palms around her back and with his thumbs pressed on her belly... this could have caused her injuries in her belly,” said the father defending his 24-year-old second wife. His second wife, OY, had been at home with the children for about seven months before the incident. Responding to queries about beating the children or the victim, the father said that he did notice anything like that. “My daughter never complained about my wife,” said the father told the jury. The court will reconvene on July 9 for defence. Case Background A 24-year-old Jordanian housewife allegedly assaulted her four-year-old step daughter to death. The girl sustained head and stomach injuries and her death was caused due to internal bleeding in both her head and belly. According to the records, the little girl, Maya, and her siblings were in their father's custody following their parents' divorce. The mother AJ, 36, is also a Jordanian and a nurse by profession. On January 30, AJ received a call from her ex-husband asking her to arrive at the emergency department of NMC hospital where he had rushed their daughter who was in a bad condition after falling down. “By the time I arrived at the hospital, my daughter had already died. When I asked about the reason of her death I was told that she had fallen from the cycle,” the mother told investigators. However, the mother was not convinced with the cause and pointed at her ex-husband's wife and accused the woman of ill-treating her children, especially the youngest one, the deceased. “I also noticed traces of assault in different parts of my daughter’s body,” the mother told investigators. Earlier, on the day when the incident took place, the neighbour, GM, 47, a Syrian dentist was rushed to the house to check on the little girl who was unconscious. “I noticed a minor bruise in the girl’s head... there was no fracture in the skull. However, the girl’s skin was yellow, and her lips were blue... she was very cold and unconscious... her iris was not responding to light. These symptoms prove that the girl was subject to injuries other than the one on the head. These injuries could not be sustained from falling from a cycle. I asked the family to rush the girl to a hospital,” testified the neighbour. The stepmother called her husband and asked for his permission to rush his daughter to the hospital. The family’s Ethiopian maid, ST,28, told investigators that she had been working for the family for two months and on the day of the accident, her employer asked her for the first time of her service to prepare food. The accused took the three children to her room and accompanied the youngest to give her a bath, said the maid. “I could hear the little girl crying badly... I think she was beating her. My employer treats childr