PORT DICKSON • A two-year-old girl died yesterday after she was left inside a car by her mother. It is believed that she succumbed to heatstroke.
Port Dickson OCPD Superintendent Zainduin Ahmad said preliminary investigations revealed that Ms Hasmah Masroh, 32, a lecturer at Port Dickson Vocational College, left the toddler in the car in the college's carpark for four hours.
"She only realised that her child was still in the car at around 1pm. When she rushed to the vehicle, the victim was already unconscious," he said.
The mother then rushed her daughter, Nur Awfa Humaisha Muhammad Ali Riduan, to the Port Dickson health clinic, but the child was pronounced dead a short while later.
"I'm so sorry... please forgive me, sayang. Ibu didn't do it on purpose," Ms Hasmah cried at the Port Dickson Hospital mortuary, as she was consoled by more than 30 relatives and friends.
She had told her friend that before the incident, she had placed her daughter - who was asleep when they left their home - in the car seat in the back of her Proton Saga, the New Straits Times reported.
Ms Hasmah said that as soon as she arrived at the college, she went to her office, without realising that her daughter was in the car.
One of Ms Hasmah's friends said: "It was a fluke accident. She forgot she brought her daughter to college. She had dropped off her elder child at the kindergarten but somehow didn't take her daughter to the babysitter."
The friend said Ms Hasmah's routine was to drop off her elder child at a kindergarten, then take Awfa to a babysitter, before going to work.
Supt Zainudin said the case was being investigated. Offenders can be jailed for up to 10 years and fined not more than RM20,000 (S$6,800) upon conviction.
THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
