One-month-old baby girl dies believed to be abused

A one-month-old baby girl died after she was believed to have been abused by her father at a house in the Kota Laksamana Apartment, here, Monday morning.

Melaka Tengah district police chief ACP Shaikh Abdul Adzis Shaikh Abdullah said the baby was reported to have died by the Melaka General Hospital when she was brought there for treatment at 3am yesterday.

"The police received a report on the baby's death from the hospital about an hour after the victim was taken by her 25-year-old mother to the hospital," he told reporters, here today.

He said post-mortem conducted at 3.30 pm yesterday revealed that the infant suffered from internal injuries with a wound on her left side of her head and cracked skull.

He said the youngest of four siblings, who lived in the house with her mother, father and a six-year-old sister, was believed to have died in less than 24 hours.

Shaikh Abdul Adzis said further investigations led to the arrest of an unemployed 27-year-old man, who is also the baby's father at 5pm yesterday to assist in investigations.

He said initial investigations found that the man was tested positive for methamphetamine and had previous criminal records.

"The man is now being remanded for seven days from today and the case is being investigated under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder," he said.