Three-year-old Sherin Mathews, the adopted girl from India who was found dead under mysterious circumstances in Texas, US in October, might have been subjected to prolonged abuse by her adoptive parents.
A doctor who treated the girl told the court last week that she found Shrein had several bone fractures and had called the Child Protective Services (CPS) to report concerns that the 3-year-old had been hurt at the hands of her parents, the Dallas News report.
The doctor revealed before a US Court on Wednesday that Sherin had many broken bones and injuries on her body which were in various stages of healing. .
Paediatrician and child abuse expert Susan Dakil of Referral and Evaluation of At Risk Children Clinic testified that the X-rays taken in September 2016 and February 2017, showed visible injuries on Sherin.
The doctor added that those injuries were inflicted upon Sherin after she was adopted and brought to the US. Sherin was adopted from Bihar in July 2016.
Sherin's parents had then told the doctor that the September injury was caused after the couple's elder daughter pushed Sherin off the couch.
The February injury, Sini had maintained, was caused when Sherin slipped on a slide, and Sini had to grab the child.
Sherin's adoptive parents Wesley Mathews (charged for causing felony injury to the child) and Sini Mathews (charged for abandoning and endangering the child) appeared before a court for a Child Protective Services (CPS) hearing regarding the custody of their biological daughter.
The five-year-old who was initially removed from the Mathews' home and put under foster care, was recently released to a family member in Houston.
During the hearing, the prosecution questioned Sini about Sherin's broken femur, elbow and tibia.
However, Sini pleaded the Fifth Amendment – protection against self-incrimination, thereby refusing to answer the question.
WFAA reported that Sini invoked the 5th amendment for most of the questions asked to her in the 37-minute long hearing.
Saying that Sherin was a "failure to thrive" patient, indicating that she was below the third percentile of the growth curve for children of the same age, the doctor said that Sherin continued to lose weight.
During the hearing, the State reportedly pointed out that Wesley had not called the emergency 911, but the non-emergency number to report that Sherin was missing on the morning of October 7.
