An 18-year-old babysitter is being held in custody by the Thu Duc district police in Ho Chi Minh City for stamping on and killing a baby.

Ho Ngoc Nho, the mother of a two-year-old child, babysits some local kids, including D.N.L, at her rented room in Linh Trung ward for VND1.5 million (US$71) a month.

Around 7am on Nov 16, after receiving L. from his mother, V.T.H, Nho spoon fed the baby his breakfast.

L. had a tantrum while being fed. Nho angrily picked up the baby by his legs, turning him upside down to stop him from crying. While doing so, she accidentally dropped him on the ground.

In pain, L. sobbed even louder. Nho then stamped her foot forcefully on the baby’s chest and abdomen. She left him on the floor and went to the restroom.

After some 20 minutes, she went out and saw the baby was motionless. After some failed resuscitation attempts, Nho sought help from neighbors, who immediately rushed the victim to Quan Dan Mien Dong Hospital, but the baby died on the way.

Nho was immediately arrested by the Thu Duc police, to whom she admitted the crime.

The autopsy on L. revealed that the baby suffered multiple injuries, including fatal ones, such as blood congestion in the neck, seriously injured, clotted lungs, a torn right heart membrane, and a damaged liver.

L.’s grief-stricken mother, a worker at a local high-tech industrial zone, said that sometime earlier, she had noticed several bruises on her son’s body and forehead, but Nho insisted that they were from lightly hitting L. to penalize him for disobedience or from playing with other children.

Several serious child abuses have been reported recently.