Missing baby girl found dead

BATU PAHAT - A four-month-old infant who went missing after her babysitter was attacked by three would-be rapists has been found dead. Her body was discovered by joggers at 7pm yesterday at Tasik Y, just about 400m from where she was last placed inside a Proton Wira. The baby, Lim Xiu Yao, was initially left alone in the Proton Wira at about 4.30am on Wednesday at Tasik Y when her babysitter was putting up a notice for baby­sitting jobs on a lamppost just 5m away. Suddenly, three men appeared and grabbed the babysitter, who is a 42-year-old single mother, district police chief Asst Comm Din Ahmad said. He said the culprits then pulled her into their car and drove off to the Batu Pahat stadium about 1km away from the scene. She managed to escape when the car stopped at the stadium. While she tried to run away, she slipped and fell unconscious. Passers-by found the babysitter at about 7am, ACP Din said. Her Proton Wira was found at the same spot during a search for the baby shortly after the babysitter regained consciousness. "However, the baby was not inside the vehicle," he said. Less than 48 hours later, police were notified that joggers found the baby's body near some bush­­es. The infant girl had bruises on her head. The babysitter, who suffered a broken leg, did not lose her belongings but police believe the men had attempted to rape her. Xiu Yao's father, Lim Aik Zheng, said he and his wife Tan Hui Kheng last saw their baby on Sunday night when they took her to the babysitter. Lim added that his first thought when they heard a baby had been found dead was that it "must not be my baby girl". "It is really painful to know that someone could hurt an innocent baby in this manner. Their actions are worse than animals," he said at the Batu Pahat Hospital mortuary. "My only hope is that the murderers responsible for this are caught." The couple has a four-year-old daughter. Tan said her baby had just turned four months on Tuesday, adding that Xiu Yao was an infant who was "very aware of her surroundings". "She loved to smile. She always wanted to sit up and watch TV and was a very active baby," she said. Source: Asiaone