Source: http://www.myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=1941

KATHMANDU, Feb 13:
A Nepali infant who captured the hearts of people in Virginia by
successfully undergoing cleft-palate surgery two months ago, was found
dead in a bathtub this week, the Miami Herald reported Thursday.

Nine-month-old Tendral Meytok Gurung, who was abandoned by her parents
in a Nepalese Himalayan village owing to her facial deformity, was
brought by a Buddhist nun Lama Tenzin to Virginia last year where she
received a free cleft-palate surgery at Operation Smile, a medical
charity that has treated thousands of children with facial deformities
since 1982.

She died on Tuesday in a tub in Sunny Isles Beach where she was left
unattended to for half-an-hour by her caretaker and Tenzin’s sister
Samchue Negi.

Police have arrested Negi and charged her with child neglect and
aggravated manslaughter of a child. Police say Negi left the infant
unattended to while she talked on the phone.

The woman and the baby were staying at the home of a couple who
financed their trip to the United States so the baby could receive
cleft-palate surgery.

Roads, Virginia, for free treatment to fix her cleft lip and cleft
palate, according to The Virginian-Pilot newspaper.

´´The little girl recovered quickly and was a smiling, gurgling
highlight of the international charity´s world summit meeting in
January,´´ a Virginian-Pilot story said Wednesday, the day after
Tendral was found dead.

The article said that during her passage through Virginia, Tendral had
``inspired schoolchildren, brought adults to tears and even had several
people offer to adopt her.´´

Negi was the primary caretaker responsible for the care of the female
infant, the police said in a statement. ``The subject [Negi] prepared a
bath for the victim, and then left the victim unattended for
approximately 30 minutes while she participated in a telephone
conversation in a separate room.

``The victim was then discovered unresponsive by the subject.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue responded and transported the victim to the
hospital, where she was pronounced deceased. The subject was arrested
and charged.´´

A statement from Operation Smile said the charity was ``shocked and
saddened to hear of the devastating, tragic death of 9-month-old
Tendral Meytok Gurung in Florida. . . . We are distraught that her
chance has been cut so short.´´

The statement said Tendral came to the United States for treatment on
Dec. 18 and that Operation Smile co-founder and chief executive officer
Dr. Bill Magee performed the surgery.

´´Tendral was released from the hospital two days later for
recuperation in Virginia,´´ the statement said. ``Nearly one month
later, she was fully recovered and there was no planned follow-up.´´