US mother arrested after 4-year-old daughter nearly dies from head lice

A woman from Indiana, United Stated was arrested and charged for neglect after her four-year-old child nearly died from a severe head lice infestation.

The little girl, who was admitted to a US hospital last month, was so sick she could barely walk with her 26-year-old mother Shyanna Nicole Singh, allegedly claiming she “didn’t notice the lice”.

The girl needed four blood transfusions and was declared “near fatality” by the hospital. Police added that the child’s blood had very low hemoglobin levels, with only 1.7 hemoglobin instead of the normal 12.

The girl’s six-year-old sister was also infested with lice with a police officer saying it was unlike anything he had seen before.

While her haemoglobin levels were still low at 8.7 grams, it was not as critical as her younger sister’s, the publication reported.

Interviews with school staff revealed eldest sister had had lice for three days straight in March before she was absent for 31 days.

The sisters have since been removed from their mother with child services placing them in the care and custody of their grandparents’.

The girls’ grandmother told police she asked Singh how the lice got so bad, and the mum responded that “she didn’t notice, and that (she) was just in a fog,” according to an affidavit.