Parents usually trust the staff at a daycare center to take care of their children while they are busy or at their jobs. This means that the staff has the responsibility to make sure their charges are safe and sound while waiting for the parents to turn up.
A nine-month-old baby boy was found dead in a toilet of daycare centre in Section 32, Shah Alam, on Wednesday (24 July), reported Astro Awani. The baby was believed to have drowned in a bucket full of water.
The Chief District Police of Shah Alam, ACP Baharudin Mat Taib said the daycare centre’s caretaker found the baby upside down in a small bucket of water with the head down. The incident happened around 1.45pm.
“Before the incident, the 30-year-old owner of the daycare centre and the three caretakers were having a fishing activity at an activity room in the centre,” he said.
“One of the caretakers realised what happened after entering the toilet and seeing the baby’s head under the water in the bucket,” he added in a statement today.
As soon as they found out, the daycare centre owner took the baby to Desa Clinic in Jalan Kebun, Shah Alam, to get treatment.
Baharudin said that the baby was then brought to Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital (HTAR) in Klang for further treatment but the baby was verified to have passed away at around 4pm.
“The daycare centre owner called the baby’s mother (age 37) to inform her about her child’s condition,” he said.
“The autopsy report that was carried out at 9am yesterday found that there were no signs of physical abuse on the baby,” Baharudin added.
The baby had only been at the daycare centre for 10 days and the parents had paid RM300 to the caretakers. The baby was reported to be in a healthy condition during those few days. There were only 10 children under the centre’s care during the time of the incident.
“The case is being investigated according to Section 31(1)(a) Child Act 2001 to identify the cause of the incident and if it was because of neglect,” Baharudin informed.
“The owner of the daycare centre was apprehended at around 10pm (25 July) for further investigation,” he said.
All thoughts and prayers go to the victim’s family.
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