CEBU, Philippines - A teenage mother was arrested by the police in Carcar City, Cebu Tuesday for allegedly killing her one-year-old baby boy.
The 18-year-old mother, whose name is withheld by The Freeman, reportedly threw her baby against the door, causing severe head injury. The baby was rushed to Cebu Provincial Hospital in Carcar City where he died Tuesday evening.
The mother allegedly got mad when her brother woke her up to feed the baby who was crying, apparently because he was hungry. But, instead of feeding the boy, the suspect threw him against the wooden door, hitting his head.
The relatives of the suspect immediately reported the incident to the police, resulting in her arrest. She will be charged with parricide.
The mother, who was detained at the Carcar City Police Station, said it was not her intention to kill her child. According to her, she and the baby were sleeping when her brother woke them up.
Her brother was allegedly angry and hit her with a towel because she failed to sell their goods in the market.
The mother said she tried hitting back her brother but accidentally threw the baby away. The suspect’s live-in partner, a 73-year-old man, said what happened was an accident.
However, the brother said his sister is really irresponsible. In fact, she would often leave the child alone at night and will come home only in the morning. He said he woke his sister to feed the baby because the latter was already crying.
Police Officer 2 Camia Codo, of the Womens and Children’s Protection Desk, said they will file a parricide case against the mother.
Meanwhile, a psychological intervention will be done by the Carcar City Social Welfare Development Office on the mother.
Social welfare officer Earlanie Jimenez said they are just waiting for the referral from the police. —with Ria Mae Y. Booc and Decemay Padilla/FPL (FREEMAN)