A 38-year-old babysitter, named Sa’adiah Jamari who is also a registered nurse was found guilty of feeding sleeping pills and anti-anxiety medication to two infants she was babysitting. The babies aged 5-month-old and 11-month-old respectively, when the incident happened.
The 5-month old baby girl’s mother took her baby to her home after engaging her services online. The mother then found her baby drowsy and cranky. The baby was diagnosed with the common cold at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital (KKH), a blood test was taken. But they did not check for drugs in her blood, reported by Malay Mail.
On Dec 9, 2016, when the girl became drowsy again, her mother took her to the Parkway East Hospital. Doctors found that she was flopping around and unable to follow objects.
Another incident happened on Dec 25, 2016 where Sa’adiah babysat the 11-month-old baby. Her parents took her to KKH upon realising that their baby had droopy eyelids, could not sit or stand upright without support, and had difficulty walking after Sa’adiah babysat her.
Toxicology reports showed various drugs in their blood and urine — 10 drugs in the 5-month-old baby, who was found to have overdosed, and 6 in the 11-month-old baby, reported by Straits Times.
The mother of the 5-month-old baby filed a police report in late December 2016.
Sa’adiah had regular prescriptions for three drugs — alprazolam and diazepam, which are sleeping pills, and zolpidem, a medication for insomnia.
In court, she acknowledged that she had some of the drugs and was given weekly prescriptions at the time of her offences. But,she denied poisoning the babies. Deputy Public Prosecutor criticised her for changing her story to suit her purposes and for claiming memory loss when inconsistencies arose.
Sa’adiah will return to court on Nov 24 to be sentenced.