GEORGE TOWN: A 17-month-old female toddler died today after being found submerged in a basin during a bath by her babysitter in her house in Permatang Damar Laut, Batu Maung near here yesterday.
Barat Daya district police chief Supt A.A Anbalagan said police received information about the incident after being contacted by the doctor who attended to the toddler at the Penang General Hospital at around 1pm yesterday. The victim died at 2am today.
“Initial investigations revealed the victim was staying with the 43-year-old babysitter, and during the incident yesterday, the woman was filling water into the basin until it was nearly full to bathe the child but forgot to bring a towel.
“The woman went to fetch the towel which was around 10 steps away from the bathroom but on returning found the upper half of her body, including the head, submerged under water with her legs outside the basin. The babysitter immediately moved the victim (from the basin) and found her in a conscious state,” he said in a statement today.
He said the babysitter then put a disposable diaper on the victim and coaxed her to sleep. After 30 minutes, she discovered the victim was listless and contacted an ambulance using the emergency line while administering mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
“Further investigation is being conducted to determine if there are any criminal elements and whether there were any witnesses to the incident. The police have detained the babysitter to facilitate investigations under Section 31(1)(a) of the Child Act 2001,” he added. — Bernama
