Father accidently kills child by Shaken Baby Syndrome
The 30 year old father had been forcefully rocking the baby for 10 – 15 minutes so that she would quieten down and go to sleep at night around 9pm. When his wife returned from work the next morning at 7am, she noticed that her baby was “behaving strangely”.
The baby was brought to KKH soon after that, and was revealed to have several injuries including haemorrhage in the brain and eyes. She passed away a week later. The cause of death is most likely to be the condition called Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS).
Unintentional murder
The man’s lawyer, S Balamurugan, claimed that the man was not intentionally trying to hurt the baby, and was merely trying to put her to sleep. He added that the man had also rocked his older daughter, now 2-years-old, in a similar manner without any adverse effects.
The 23-year-old wife, when questioned on whether she has forgiven her husband, stated that that it was a “very difficult question” and that she has to “move on with her life”.
[stextbox id=”alert”]*SBS usually occurs when babies are shaken violently, in anger or otherwise. If you have a baby in the house, always look for signs of it. A baby with SBS may seem glassy-eyed, appear rigid, lethargic, and irritable, have a decreased appetite, difficulty feeding, or vomiting. He may be unable to focus his eyes on an object or lift his head. In severe cases, he may have difficulty breathing, or he may have seizures, heart failure, coma, and unconsciousness. Shaken baby injuries usually happen to children who are younger than 2 years old, though the syndrome sometimes shows up in kids as old as 5.[/stextbox]
