( CNN ) -- In a New Delhi hospital , a two-year-old girl is fighting for her life after a teenager brought her there three weeks ago , unconscious with severe head injuries and bruises , fractured arms and human bite marks covering her tiny body . All of India began following her ordeal through newspapers and television . Doctors operated on the toddler , opened up her airways and placed her on a ventilator . They named her Falak , which means sky . Her condition remains critical , said Dr. Sumit Sinha of the India Institute of Medical Sciences . No one knows whether she will survive or if she does , whether she will live with permanent brain damage . But that 's just the tip of the story . With each day , it becomes more sordid . Once police began investigating Baby Falak 's back story , they unearthed a suspected ring of human trafficking . The details sparked new outrage among authorities and the public alike , who say the case raises a host of questions about child abandonment , exploitation and the poor treatment of girls and women in the world 's second most populous nation . `` This has turned out to be one of the biggest sex rackets involving minors and child prostitution and sale of women for marriage , '' said Raaj Mangal Prasad , head of India 's Child Welfare Committee . `` This shows this is a classic case where the magnitude of trafficking has come to light . '' Indians came to know of Baby Falak after a distraught teenage girl , only 14 , brought the baby to the hospital , claiming to be her mother . On the night of January 17 , the baby just kept crying and crying , the teenager told the Child Welfare Committee in New Delhi . Angered by the tantrum , the girl slapped the baby three or four times -- and bit her . A while later , she said , the baby slipped on a wet bathroom floor and fell on her face . The girl tied a bandage around the baby 's head but the wound began to swell . The next day , when the baby did not wake up , the girl took her to the hospital . The doctors said Baby Falak was bruised the color of eggplant and beets . She was in a coma . They did not believe the girl 's story . Nor that she was Falak 's biological mother . `` My personal opinion would be that it does n't look like a simple case of falling down , '' said Dr. Deepak Agarwal , a neurosurgeon at the hospital . She was referred to a juvenile center for counseling and police launched an investigation . South Delhi deputy Police Commissioner Chhaya Sharma formed five teams to fan out across India to track down Falak 's real family . What police learned in the subsequent weeks was shocking . The teenage girl ran away from home last June to escape abuse from her alcoholic father . The father failed to pay rent , his landlady told CNN 's sister network CNN-IBN . A neighbor described him beating his daughter so hard that her red welts were readily visible . `` I have seen with my own eyes how her father used to beat her up with a stick , '' Vikram told CNN-IBN . But her escape led the teenager to more trouble . She told authorities two people , Sandeep and Arti , forced her into a life of prostitution ; that Sandeep allegedly raped her first for three days before he found her customers , according CNN-IBN . Months later , the girl met a man named Rajkumar and the two began living together in a New Delhi slum . Police suspect he , too , was sexually abusing the girl . The girl told authorities that Rajkumar brought Baby Falak home in November . It 's unclear whether the baby was abused then but on that January night , Falak almost died . `` Once victim hurting another victim because there is no sense of hope , sense of survival they can see for themselves , '' psychiatrist Achal Bhagat told CNN-IBN . In the western state of Rajasthan , police eventually tracked down Munni , 22 , the woman believed to be Falak 's biological mother . She had been abandoned by her first husband and sold off in marriage when she was 16 to a young man from a Rajasthani village , Sharma said . She was valued at $ 6,000 , according to The Times of India . Munni left her three children behind . `` The family life was very disturbed , '' Sharma said . `` She was convinced that she would not be able to raise Falak on her own . '' While Munni 's youngest fought for her life in the hospital , police found her other daughter in the state of Bihar , many miles from Delhi and Rajasthan . Her son 's whereabouts are still not known . Police scored a breakthrough in the case Friday when they were able to nab Rajkumar , the man they believe is central to the possible trafficking ring . He was caught absconding at the New Delhi train station , Sharma said at a news conference . In all , police have arrested 10 people so far who are believed to have profited greatly from their crimes . They are still probing . No one knows how many babies were abandoned , how many women were married off for a price or how many girls were forced to sell their bodies . The case prompted India 's home ministry to review police reports and consider action and reignited national debate on a serious problem in India . A 2011 TrustLaw danger poll ranked India as the fourth most dangerous place on earth for women , behind Afghanistan , Democratic Republic of Congo and neighboring Pakistan . The survey said 100 million women and girls are involved in prostitution and 50 million are `` missing '' in the last century because of female feticide and infanticide . Almost 45 % of girls are married off before they reach adulthood . Prasad of the Child Welfare Committee called the problem `` huge . '' He said India needs more comprehensive laws on the books and stronger enforcement . This sort of thing happens all too often , Prasad said , and sadly , flies under the radar of a majority of India 's 1.2 billion people . But now , a hapless child fighting very publicly for her life has thrust an ugly side of Indian society into the national spotlight .
Baby Falak is fighting for her life in a New Delhi hospital . A teenage girl brought her there with severe injuries . A police probe is unearthing a possible human trafficking ring . 10 people have been arrested in a case that could be huge .