SHAH ALAM – Last week, Malaysia was once again shaken by a heartbreaking tragedy involving an eight-month-old baby Muhammad Al Fateh Amri, who died in a nursery in Alor Gajah, Melaka.
His parents, Major Mohd Fikry Amri Abd Halim and Sabrina Hakiem Zaini, were devastated by the loss, especially as they had waited 13 years to have a child.
On Sept 6, Al Fateh was sent to the nursery by his mother and grandfather at 7.05am.
About an hour later, the mother then received a call from the nursery that asked her to pick up her child.
When Sabrina arrived, she found that Al-Fateh's body had turned blue, his nose was bleeding and his body was limp.
Al-Fateh was immediately taken to Alor Gajah Hospital but he was pronounced dead. An autopsy was carried out later.
Alor Gajah district police chief Superintendent Ashari Abu Samah said that a 34-year-old mother of three who was the babysitter had been arrested to assist in the investigations.
The infant’s father, speaking to reporters at the Alor Gajah Hospital forensic unit on Sept 8, expressed disbelief at the tragedy.
"After 13 years of waiting for a child, my wife and I were delighted to be blessed with a son.
"But my son Muhammad Al Fateh has left us forever," he said when met at the Alor Gajah Hospital's mortuary on Friday.
He added that he thought the nursery had operated with a licence but was shocked to find that it was operating illegally.
Fikry also claimed that a check on closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage at the nursery revealed that his son was swaddled, stuffed with a milk bottle, covered with a cloth and smothered with a pillow by the babysitter based on.
The babysitter had since been remanded for seven days to assist in the investigation under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder.
Following the incident, Deputy Defence Minister Adly Zahari expressed his sympathy to the couple and acknowledged the difficult situation they experienced.
The Alor Gajah Member of Parliament also called for strict monitoring and action by relevant authorities, particularly the Social Welfare Department, against private daycare centres operating without a licence.
As shocking as the case was, child abuse had been rampant in the country, with several cases reported over the past months.
Also on Sept 6, police arrested two babysitters aged 26 and 50 suspected of abusing two siblings, aged one and three, at a nursery in Kampung Raja in Jertih.
A video of the alleged abuse had been circulated on social media and preliminary investigations found that the three-year-old boy had a small swelling on his forehead, while his one-year-old sister had a pinch mark
In June, a babysitter was guilty of force-feeding a 17-month-old toddler by pulling her hair and squeezing her nose.
She pleaded guilty in the Sessions Court in Kajang to a charge of exposing the child to injury.
The charge was framed under Section 31(1)(a) of the Child Act 2001, which comprises a fine of not more than RM50,000 or imprisonment of up to 20 years, or both if found guilty.
The daycare centre had also been revealed by an investigation that it had been running for nearly three months as of June 6 without a licence.
In January, two babysitters were suspected of abusing and neglecting an 11-month-old girl at a nursery in Semenyih.
The report was made by a woman on Jan 27 when she discovered bruises on the victim's forehead when she picked her up from the daycare and was unsure of the cause of it.
CCTV footage revealed that she fell from a high chair, but other footage suggested that there was abuse and neglect of the victim by the babysitters at the nursery.
The case was investigated under Section 31(1) (a) of the Child Act 2001.