Battered child syndrome: Is India in dire straits?

Battered child syndrome, battered baby syndrome, shaken baby syndrome, non-accidental injuries of childhood, etc. are all variants of forms of child abuse that has many names but a single outcome - the child is injured at the hands of a caretaker, more often than not a close relative. Although there are clear guidelines in most developed countries as to what the clinicians should do if they suspect a case of battered child syndrome, no such specific streamlined guidelines exist in most of the developing countries including India. In India, the National Commission for Protection of Child's Rights and the Indian Academy of Pediatricians have recently taken the initiative to educate pediatricians about child abuse and formulate policies on reporting. Although the pediatricians have woken up to the reality of child abuse, rest of the medical fraternity is yet to wake up to the fact that a big proportion of children in India are being battered and most go unnoticed and unreported. In India, there is a need for the medical and nursing educators, practitioners, policy makers, political and legislative wings of the society to get together and raise awareness, formulate specific guidelines regarding the management of a case of suspected battered child; who should investigate and how the investigation has to be done, how to ensure safe settings for at-risk children and facilitate permanent placement for children who cannot return home.