Thursday, April 4, 2013

Dad kills 4-year-old daughter by suffocation (Shanghai, China)

Dad is identified only as HU. 

http://english.eastday.com/e/130404/u1a7302519.html

Man kills 4-year-old daughter by suffocation

2013-04-04 08:38

A FATHER has been detained, accused of killing his four-year-old daughter by stuffing her mouth with gauze when she cried, causing her to suffocate, police said.

The case came to light about 7am yesterday in a hospital in suburban Baoshan District where the couple arrived with the girl.

A surveillance camera at Baoshan Dachang Hospital showed the father, surnamed Hu, carrying the girl to the emergency room, while the mother was seen crouching and crying nearby.

The girl was pronounced dead after doctors tried for about 20 minutes to resuscitate her, hospital officials said.

"The doctors found bruises and signs of injury on her face and belly," said Mao Hongliu, a pediatrician with the hospital. "The parents just said it was due to her getting scratched up."

The couple were taken for questioning by police who were alerted by the hospital.

The girl's main cause of death was determined to be suffocation.

Police said Hu first said he "was rude to the girl."

Hu later confessed the girl cried a lot on Tuesday night and he hit her with his fist several times.

He told police he later used gauze to stuff his daughter's mouth while the mother watched.

A witness at the hospital said that Hu said he beat his daughter in the morning. "He did not seem sad at all," the witness said.

The girl was the couple's only child. They are from Jiangxi Province and have lived in Shanghai for years.