An 18-year-old mom was arrested by police after she allegedly beat her one-year-old baby to death in Taguig City.
Taguig police identified the suspect as Christine May Dabuit, a single mom.
According to the police, the incident happened at about 12:30 p.m. on April 20 in the suspect’s house in Sitio Imelda, Brgy. Upper Bicutan.
Police said Dabuit repeatedly struck the baby with a rattan stick when he started to cry. The victim suffered difficulty in breathing, prompting his mother to rush him to the Brgy. Upper Bicutan Health Center but she was advised to bring him to the hospital.
The baby was rushed to the Taguig-Pateros District Hospital (TPDH) but he was declared dead on arrival at 1:37 p.m. by attending physician Dr. Leila Bondoc.
The hospital reported the incident to the police that led to Dabuit’s arrest.
The suspect told police that she tried to pacify her baby by hitting him with the stick.
Based on the autopsy report, the baby died due to blunt abdominal trauma. He suffered hematoma in the abdomen, forearm, groin area, and upper jaw.
According to complainant Monique Mata, the suspect’s sister, she adopted the victim when he was just two months old. But she returned the baby to Dabuit on April 1 this year when she lost her job due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
Mata said her sister called her to say that her adopted son had died.
Dabuit is facing charges of parricide.