BUTTERWORTH: A baby girl born prematurely to an Indonesian mother has died yesterday at a house in Jalan Kampung Benggali, near here, sparking rumours of a possibly physical abuse in the neighbourhood.
Police has denied such claim, saying that the baby girl's death was due to complications related to her premature birth.
North Seberang Perai police chief Assistant Commissioner Noorzainy Mohd Noor said the 30-year-old Indonesian woman has been arrested for concealing the birth.
The drama unfolded at 9.45pm on Saturday after police received a call from her neighbour who claimed that a baby had died after she was beaten to death by her own father.
Police, accompanied by Seberang Jaya Hospital medical team, rushed to the scene and checks later revealed that such was not the case.
"We then arrested the 30-year-old woman for questioning. The baby's father, a Bangladesh national had ran off for fear of arrest as he has no valid travel document.
"More importantly, we found no traces of physical abuse." he said.
Noorzainy said based on the woman's statement, the baby girl was born at 4am and died about 3pm. He said neighbours, however, thought the baby girl had been beaten to death.
"The mother claimed that her girl just refused to drink any milk and was vomitting profusely," he said.
He said the woman was detained for concealing the birth and negligence.
"Not only did the couple failed to report the birth, they also failed to refer the child to the hospital when her condition got worse," he said.
Police are now looking for the woman's partner and another Indonesian woman to assist the case.
He added that police also seized a piece of white cloth, believed to be slated for burial, at the house.
Noorzainy said that the case is being investigated under Section 31 (1)(a) of Child Act 2001 and Section 6(1) of the Immigration Act 1959/63.
