BUTTERWORTH, Dec 23 — Police have refuted news in social media that a baby girl had died because she was beaten and abused by her father.

In fact, the baby’s death was because she had a premature birth, said Seberang Perai Utara district police chief Assistant Commissioner (ACP) Noorzainy Mohd Noor.

He said the police received a telephone call from a neighbour at 9.45pm who informed that a man had hit an infant to death after which a police team went to the house to inspect.

"The initial investigation by police and a team from the Seberang Jaya Hospital found that the baby had died because she had a premature birth.

"The baby was born to a 30-year-old Indonesian woman while her husband, a Bangladesh national, had fled the scene before the police arrived as he had no valid travel documents,” Noorzainy said here today.

He said based on information from the baby’s mother, she gave birth to the child at 4am yesterday, but her child died about 11 hours later.

He said the post-mortem found that the baby was born pre-mature and had not received proper medical treatment.

Police have detained the baby’s mother who also had no valid travel documents, for investigations and are also looking for the woman’s husband and another Indonesian woman to assist in the case. — Bernama