A six-year-old boy who allegedly killed a newborn baby in a French maternity ward had been left to roam the halls unattended and referred to the victim as ‘my doll’, witnesses have claimed.
Police launched a criminal inquiry into the horror that unfolded at the Rainbow ward at the Jeanne-de-Flandre Children’s Hospital in the northern city of Lille, France, on Friday, July 11.
Baby Zayneb-Cassandra – who was born via caesarean section to parents Mohamed-Hamza and Sephora and survived despite being around six weeks premature – was found lying unresponsive on the floor beside her crib with a traumatic brain injury.
The boy, who was found standing on a chair beside her, is believed to have plucked the tiny baby from her crib and dropped her on the floor.
The pair were discovered by Delphine, a young woman who had recently given birth herself, who rushed into the room after hearing what she described as a ‘loud bang’.
Zayneb was resuscitated twice, but she ultimately died from her injuries on Tuesday after spending the weekend on life support.
Delphine, 20, later told Le Parisien that the boy in question had been disruptive for days and was not being supervised as his mother was also recovering from giving birth.
‘He was running around everywhere and had already touched a baby in a stroller,’ Delphine said.
Meanwhile, a family member of Zayneb’s grieving father alleged that the boy had fixated on Zayneb, calling her ‘my doll’, and had likely touched her unsupervised a day prior to her fall.
‘The day before, Zayneb had already been found without a diaper or electrodes, wet and suffering from hypothermia,’ Karima claimed.
The horror unfolded at the Jeanne-de-Flandre Children’s Hospital in the northern city of Lille
Zayneb’s grieving father Mohamed-Hamza told French press that he will ‘fight to identify those responsible’ for the tragedy
Now, questions are mounting as to how the boy was able to gain access to Zayneb’s crib in the neonatal unit alone, despite being reported as a ‘disruptive presence’ in the hospital.
Karima explained how the boy was running riot in the halls for days after being dropped off at the hospital each morning by his father.
‘The father would drop him off in the ward from 7am to 8pm,’ she said.
Zayneb’s grandmother Fatma also told the Voix du Nord newspaper: ‘The boy would arrive at 7am and spend all day running up and down the hallways.
‘All the mothers were complaining, and a nurse even warned the child’s mother that there was a problem. He was entering the other rooms.
‘He also entered Zayneb’s room for the first time. He said she looked like a doll, and my husband, who was there, took him out.’
‘It seems he tried to grab her by her nappy, and she fell on her head,’ Fatma concluded.
‘My family is destroyed… My daughter is devastated. Coming home without her baby is inconceivable.’
Zayneb’s distraught father, Mohamed-Hamza, told Le Parisien he doesn’t blame the boy who allegedly caused his daughter’s life-ending injuries, but hit out at the hospital for their lack of care.
‘Every six-year-old is a little disruptive. I don’t blame the mother; she had just given birth… But the child should have been supervised,’ the 23-year-old declared.
Fatma added that she had to push medical staff to arrange psychological support for her inconsolable daughter-in-law after she was informed her child had died.
Mohamed-Hamza’s cousin Karima alleged that the six-year-old boy had fixated on Zayneb, calling her ‘my doll’, and had likely touched her unsupervised a day prior to her fall
An NHS neonatal nurse told MailOnline that it is highly unusual for babies in the neonatal ward to be left alone and that the six-year-old boy should never have been able to access the room where Zayneb was lying.
‘Never, under any circumstances, can a neonatal ward be left unsupervised… you always need to have at least one nurse in the room,’ she said.
A criminal investigation into the tragedy was opened this week by the juvenile unit of the Lille Judicial Police Service, in conjunction with local prosecutors.
‘Investigations are currently underway in this case,’ said a spokesman for Lille prosecutors.
The hospital also announced the opening of ‘an internal administrative investigation’.
A spokesman said: ‘This human tragedy has deeply affected the staff and teams of Lille University Children’s Hospital, as well as the other families present.’
A separate statement provided to French press acknowledged ‘a particularly serious and upsetting exceptional event, unrelated to care’.
‘The thoughts of the University Hospital professionals are first and foremost with the young victim, her family, and her loved ones,’ it read.
The hospital also added that ‘measures to strictly limit visits to the neonatal units of the Lille University Hospital have been taken as a precautionary measure’.
Mohamed-Hamza and Sephora have not yet filed an official complaint, but dismissed the statement.
‘It won’t bring my daughter back… But we’re waiting for answers. There was a breach, and I’m going to fight to identify those responsible.
‘Justice will do its job,’ he told Le Parisien.
