IPOH: An eight-month-old baby girl died from asphyxiation when she fell from the bed into a trash can at her babysitter’s house in Taman Pasir Pinji here on Saturday.
The baby was discovered at 6.15pm by her babysitter, aged 24, in the bedroom with her head inside the trash can beside the bed.
Ipoh police chief Assistant Commissioner A Asmadi Abdul Aziz said police received a report on the death at 8pm that day from a private hospital.
He said initial investigation found that the baby girl had been sent by her father since she was 30 days’ old and was cared for by a woman, aged 45, and her 24-year-old daughter.
“Both sitters never know who the baby’s mother is since only the father who comes and visits the baby about four times a month.
“The 45-year-old sitter was at work on the day of the incident and the baby was being taken care of by the woman’s daughter,” he said when contacted today.
Initial investigation also showed that the baby just learnt how to crawl, and on the day of the incident, the 24-year-old sitter put the baby to sleep surrounded by pillows.
“The baby was left on the bed with pillows around her at 5pm. The sitter checked on the baby 30 minutes later and found her to be sound asleep.
“However, when she came back to check on the baby again at 6.15pm, she found the baby had fallen down with her head inside the trash can next to the bed,” he said, adding that post-mortem found the baby died from asphyxiation.
“The baby fell face down and blood had collected in her lungs, causing her heart to stop functioning.”
A Asmadi added that further checks found no physical abuse or other injuries on the baby’s body. The case is being investigated under Section 31(1) of the Child Act 2001 and the sitters have been detained to facilitate investigation.