JOHOR BARU, Oct 5 — Police have ruled out child abuse in the death of a two-year-old boy at a restaurant in Taman Sutera here yesterday.
Johor Baru North deputy police chief Supt Fariz Ammar Abdullah said police initiated investigations under a sudden death report as there was no indication of criminal motivation in the incident.
He said investigations are still ongoing, pending the post-mortem results later today from the Sultanah Aminah Hospital’s (HSA) forensics department.
"Police investigations yesterday revealed that the toddler fell together with the baby chair after he had suddenly kicked the dining table while the family was eating, causing him to fall backwards.
"According to the restaurant’s workers, who witnessed the incident, the fall caused the toddler to hit his head on the floor where he cried loudly before passing out,” said Faris Ammar in a statement today.
Fariz Ammar said the toddler’s father immediately rushed him to a private clinic nearby, but was later advised to admit his son to a hospital due to the seriousness of his injuries.
"However, the toddler was pronounced dead by a medical officer after he was brought to a private hospital in Iskandar Puteri,” he said, adding that police were later alerted of the incident after they a report was lodged on the same day at 5.23pm.
The unfortunate incident yesterday was believed to have occurred at a restaurant in Skudai at 3pm.
