SHARJAH // A nine-month-old baby who was in a coma after being assaulted has died.
Emirati Salama Al Mazmi died on Wednesday at Al Qassimi Hospital, in Sharjah. She had been comatose for two weeks.
A family maid has been referred to public prosecution after police said she confessed to assaulting Salama.
Her serviceman father, Salem, said: “I received the call early in the morning from the hospital and they told me that Salama has passed away. May she rest in peace.
“I had been searching for hospitals to treat my child locally or internationally after Al Qassimi doctors told me they don’t have the capacity to treat her further.”
Dr Khaled bin Sabt, a paediatric consultant at the hospital, said Salama suffered from a severe circulatory collapse.
“Staff tried to revive the heart but unfortunately the girl did not make it due to the severity of her injuries,” Dr bin Sabt said.
Salama had been breathing and feeding through tubes at the hospital.
Her body will be examined by Sharjah Police’s forensic laboratory before being handed over to the family.
Police questioned her parents and the family’s two Indonesian maids.
Ahmad Al Mazmi, Salama’s uncle, said the family was suffering greatly.
“We can’t believe she is dead. We can’t believe she suffered and endured this kind of brutality,” Mr Al Mazmi said. “Our family is in shock and grieving, and we demand justice.”
He said Salama’s mother, who is seven months pregnant, and her father were in shock.
Salama was admitted to hospital on July 13 with a fractured skull, internal bleeding and bruising on her face.
Emergency teams resuscitated her and when she started to breathe and was stabilised, a CT scan found a blood clot in her brain, skull fracture and broken rib from earlier injuries.
Salama, a twin, was born prematurely and suffered from poor immunity. Her sister died 12 days after they were born.
She has a three-year-old sister, Shahad.
tzriqat@thenational.ae
