London Couple Charged with Murder in Tragic Death of Child Hazel

Rinkalben Prajapati, 24, and Krunal Prajapati, 27, residents of Colindale in North West London, are facing murder charges in the death of their 11-week-old baby Hazel, who passed away at Great Ormond Street Hospital on September 20, 2022, after experiencing cardiac arrest at home four days earlier.

During cross-examination at Snaresbrook Crown Court on Tuesday (November 14), Ms. Prajapati, the mother, refuted claims that she bit her baby while her husband allegedly battered her to death. She asserted that she believed the injuries “happened naturally” and claimed she only became aware of the severity of Hazel’s injuries after a postmortem scan.

Ms. Prajapati maintained that she thought bite marks, a fractured skull, a twisted leg, and bruising occurred at Northwick Park Hospital, where Hazel was taken after ceasing to breathe on September 16, 2022. However, her perspective allegedly changed during a phone call from Mr. Prajapati, who informed her that the injuries resulted from dropping Hazel on the floor.

A transcript of the monitored call was presented to jurors, with the prosecution suggesting that Mr. Prajapati was attempting to shift blame onto his wife, told My London.

Under questioning about her interactions with medical professionals on the night Hazel was taken to the hospital, Ms. Prajapati claimed not to remember telling a nurse that Hazel had been crying for half an hour. Ms. O’Neill, the prosecutor, also questioned her about marks on Hazel’s cheek, which Ms. Prajapati said appeared and disappeared in the days before her death.

Ms. O’Neill probed Ms. Prajapati’s accounts to police officers, particularly regarding a change in Hazel’s color when taken into the kitchen on the night of her cardiac arrest. Ms. Prajapati claimed she only noticed marks on Hazel’s cheek once she was in a hospital bed, contradicting earlier statements to the police. The trial continues with disturbing details emerging about the tragic incident.