SCOTTSBURG, Ind. — A mother from Scottsburg is charged with neglect after police say her 4-year-old daughter was so infested with lice that she nearly died.
Court papers say a police officer was contacted April 20 after the girl was brought to the hospital with a severe lice infestation. Police say the girl could not walk and needed four blood transfusions.
According to WDRB, the girl’s blood had a severe deficit of hemoglobin. Her hemoglobin levels were at 1.7, rather than the normal 12, according to court documents.
A second child, a 6-year-old girl, was also infested with lice.
The Department of Child Services determined that the children were living with their mother, 26-year-old Shyanne Singh, in a home in Scottsburg.
Police say the 6-year-old had been sent home from school in early March for having lice and did not return to school. The child had 31 days worth of unexcused absences, according to court documents.
Singh was arrested and faces charges of neglect of a dependent, neglect of a dependent resulting in bodily injury, and neglect of a dependent resulting in serious bodily injury. She is being held in the Scott County Detention Center.
