2007 09: Toddler dies after parents deported to Philippines

The Star online. News. Nation. Thursday September 13, 2007

By RUBEN SARIO

KOTA KINABALU: A two-year-old toddler whose parents were deported to the Philippines has died of suspected physical abuse here.

Police in Penampang district have detained the boy's 50-year-old grandmother and 14-year-old cousin in connection with the incident.

Penampang police chief Deputy Supt Madang Usat said the boy identified only as Evin died at the Queen Elizabeth hospital here on Sept 5.

He said hospital officials alerted police soon after Evin's death at about 1.30pm on that day due to breathing difficulties and the case was initially classified as sudden death.

However, following a post mortem, police were told that the toddler had sustained internal injuries indicating that he had been physically abused.

DSP Madang said police detained Evin's grandmother, a holder of the IMM13 identification document for refugees, when she came to the hospital to claim the body on Sept 11.

He said Evin's cousin was detained at a restaurant along Jalan Tuaran at about 11pm on the same day. Both the grandmother and cousin were remanded under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder.

DSP Madang said the toddler had been staying with the grandmother and cousin at an apartment in Beverly Hills here since his parents’ deportation to the Philippines.