A 28-year-old Singaporean was jailed for six months by a court in Singapore on Monday for negligently causing the death of his three-month-old daughter two years ago as he was playing a game on his mobile phone while feeding her milk.
On October 12, 2015, Mohamed Shiddiq Sazali was told by Nurraishah Mahzan, his girlfriend at the time, to take care of their baby by himself at their home in Telok Blangah Crescent, The Straits Times reported. Before Mahzan left home, she prepared a bottle of milk for Shiddiq to feed to the baby, but he said the child rejected it.
Mahzan then fed some of the milk to the baby until she left home. She asked Shiddiq to continue to feed the girl the remaining milk. However, after she departed, Shiddiq started playing a soccer game on his mobile phone while feeding the baby. The girl began rejecting the milk but Shiddiq kept on feeding her, neglecting the baby’s distress. After two minutes, the baby choked on the milk and died.
On the same day, the man’s father-in-law returned home and sent the baby to hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Shiddiq was then arrested for allegedly causing death by negligence.
A forensic pathologist said leaving the bottle in the baby’s mouth might have blocked her upper airway and caused her death, which could have been avoided.
This was not the first time Shiddiq had demonstrated negligence on the baby’s welfare. On August 26, 2015, the baby suffered a fractured skull. Shiddiq was holding the baby as he bent down to pick up a pacifier. The baby fell backward and hit her head on the floor. She was hospitalized for two weeks.
In Singapore, causing death by negligence is punishable by two years in jail and a fine of up to S$5,000 (US$3,700).