KUALA LUMPUR: A babysitter tortured a five-year-old hyperactive girl to death as she was no longer able to tolerate her behaviour.
City police chief Datuk Saiful Azly Kamaruddin said this was revealed by the 61-year-old suspect during interrogation.
"Investigations showed that the suspect had been looking after the victim since September last year.
"The victim's father, who is working in Vietnam, was unable to return to Malaysia due to the Covid-19 pandemic while her mother had disappeared," he told a press conference at the state police headquarters, here, today.
Saiful Azly said the girl was living with the suspect along with her sons aged 22 and 34.
"The babysitter does not have any relationship with the victim and is merely an acquaintance whom the father had asked to care for his daughter."
He said police received information from a resident who reported the discovery of an unconscious girl in a house on Jan 2.
"Acting on the information, a team went to scene and found the girl with numerous injuries.
"The suspect and her sons were arrested the same day and remanded for eight days to assist investigations.
"Investigation papers on the case have been submitted to the deputy public prosecutor's office and the babysitter will be charged under Section 31 (1) of the Child Act 2001 while both her sons will be prosecution witnesses," he said.