Silenced Cries: The tragic end of a helpless baby

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune - www.newsofbahrain.com

Email: ashen@newsofbahrain.com

The baby was just six months old. But that didn’t stop the man from throwing punches at its face when the infant cried helplessly. He was supposed to care for the child while the mother was away, but he lost his patience when the tiny baby wouldn’t stop crying. So, he decided to stop it, once and for ever.

There were two women in the house as well—a caregiver and her friend.

Shockingly, they didn’t lift a finger to help. Instead, when the mother returned, they claimed it had been an accident. They told her plainly that the baby had died by falling from the bed while asleep.

They thought they could get away with it, but fate had other plans.

Failed to fool investigators

Suspicious investigators combed through the house, uncovering incriminating evidence that pointed to the brutal crime. Unsurprisingly, when the case appeared before the High Criminal Court, all of them received prison sentences.

The man, a 22-year-old GCC national, was sentenced to seven years in prison. However, he has challenged the verdict before the High Appeal Court, which is set to pass its final decision on the 30th of this month.

Haemorrhage

Police revealed that the sixmonth-old baby died due to severe injuries and haemorrhaging caused by the repeated blows the man inflicted on the infant’s face.

The court also found the baby’s mother, a 32-year-old Asian national, guilty of negligence, sentencing her to six months in prison.

Additionally, the court convicted the baby’s caregiver of negligence for failing to protect the child and attempting to cover up the crime.

She was sentenced to three years and six months in prison. The caregiver’s friend, also present during the incident, was sentenced to three years for her involvement in the events that led to the baby’s death.

Not intentional!

Court documents stated that while the man did not intend to kill the baby, his violent actions directly resulted in the child’s death. Police records indicate that the horrific incident began when the baby started crying uncontrollably on the day the mother was away for work. Instead of soothing the infant, the man chose to silence the baby by delivering heavy blows to the child’s face.

The assault proved too much for the tiny baby. The crying stopped, but the infant soon succumbed to the severe head injury, which resulted in intracranial haemorrhaging.

The situation became even more disturbing when police discovered that the 29-year-old Asian caregiver and her friend, also an Asian national, were present when the man vented his fury on the baby.

Rather than protecting the child, the caregiver attempted to cover up the crime by falsely informing the shocked mother that the baby had died after falling from the bed.

Though unaware of the brutal assault, the mother reported the incident to the authorities. DNA told another story The investigation took a sharp turn when forensic experts arrived at the scene and began analyzing the evidence, including DNA traces from both the baby and the defendant. When interrogated, the suspects initially denied their involvement.

However, they could no longer maintain their lies when confronted with forensic evidence and the caregivers’ confessions.

The GCC national, who had initially claimed it was an accident, eventually confessed to his crime, leading to the original conviction. Yet, even as the courts prepared to close the case, the man returned, appealing for a reduction in his sentence.

The High Appeal Court’s final verdict is pending and will be delivered at the end of the month. In the end, the cries of a baby were silenced forever, but the echoes of that tragic day will haunt everyone involved for years to come.