Like the media elsewhere, notice that UNNAMED DAD's custodial status is glossed over. And the means by which this torturer obtained custody of this girl is also totally omitted. As if babies just mysteriously landed in the homes of fathers--without mothers who gave birth to them. Given how vicious this guy is, I'm sure there is a lot of backstory as to why Mom had no contact to speak of. But the media won't tell you what it is.
http://ibnlive.in.com/generalnewsfeed/news/4-yrold-girl-tortured-and-branded-by-father-stepmother/949596.html
4 yr-old girl tortured and branded by father, stepmother
PTI | 12:01 PM,Jan 12,2012
Coimbatore, Jan 11 (PTI): In a severe instance of child abuse, a four-year-old girl has been tortured and branded by her father and stepmother at nearby Tirupur, police said. The girl has now been rescued and admitted to the district headquarters hospital at Tirupur with severe facial injuries while the duo have fled from the town, they said. Police said they acted on a complaint by SAVE,an NGO, which lodged a complaint after neigbours alerted Childline, which in turn informed the NGO about the torture the child was being subjected to. Quoting the girl, police said the stepmother used to rub her face to a working wet grinding stone. She also used to insert a piece of broomstick into her nostrils when she was asleep early in the morning and brand her with Ahot iron rod on her palms and legs, they said Based on her oral statement, police formed two teams to trace the woman and the father, a bus conductor, they said. The girl's mother, who left her husband some years ago has been informed about the incident, they said.