SEREMBAN: Pressure on the neck has been identified as the preliminary cause of death for a seven-month-old infant found unresponsive in a cradle at a babysitter's house here.
Seremban OCPD Asst Comm Azahar Abdul Rahim said that these initial findings followed a postmortem conducted by a medical team at Rembau Hospital on Wednesday (May 20).
"The post-mortem results confirmed that there was pressure on the deceased's neck.
"However, we are awaiting further test results to confirm this," he said in a statement.
Police had detained the 38-year-old babysitter on Tuesday (May 19) following the incident.
The arrest was made after medical staff at the Tuanku Ja'afar Hospital (TJH) failed to revive the victim after performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and pronounced him dead.
According to police, the victim's 30-year-old mother had lodged a report stating she received a call from the babysitter informing her that her son had lost consciousness.
The infant was then rushed to a nearby clinic before being transferred to Tuanku Ja'afar Hospital (TJH).
Initial police probes revealed that the babysitter had placed the infant to sleep in a cradle with a silicone pacifier in his mouth.
However, when she woke him up at around 5.40pm to bathe him, he was unresponsive.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the babysitter had been looking after the victim since last December.
According to the state Welfare Department, the childcare centre was unregistered and operating without approval under the Child Care Centre Act 1984.
It has since been ordered to close.
Based on preliminary reports, several children were under the care of the woman.
The case is being investigated under section 31(1)(A) of the Child Act 2001 which provides a jail term not exceeding 20 years or a fine of up to RM50,000 or both upon conviction.
Earlier Thursday (May 21), ACP Azahar said the babysitter has been remanded for six days to assist in investigations.
