Four-month-old boy in coma, believed to have been abused at child care centre

KUALA TERENGGANU: A four-month-old boy is in a coma at a hospital here after he was believed to have been abused at a childcare centre in Batu Buruk last Wednesday.

The baby is said to suffer serious injuries, including brain haemorrhaging and a fractured skull.

Terengganu police chief Datuk Rohaimi Md Isa said the child's father lodged a police report last Wednesday when he found his son weak and in pain after taking the child from the centre.

He said the child's father, who is a medical officer, then took the baby to a hospital for examination and the results showed there were blood clots in the boy's head.

Following that, Rohaimi said, the police arrested three women, aged 22 to 33, who are babysitters at the centre, for investigation.

They were arrested yesterday and the police would obtain an order to remand them today.

The police had also obtained footage of a close-circuit television camera, which showed the boy, who was registered at the centre three days earlier, being shaken, hit on the head and slapped, he told a press conference after the Terengganu police contingents monthly assembly here today.

He said the child was still at the Children's Intensive Care Unit of the Sultanah Nur Zahirah Hospital (HSNZ).

The case is investigated under Section 31(1)(a) of the Child Act, which provides a fine not exceeding RM50,000 or imprisonment for a period not exceeding 20 years or both, upon conviction.

-- BERNAMA