A two-month-old baby girl in the Kebon Jeruk sub-district of West Jakarta, identified by her initials AH, has died after reportedly choking on banana in the early hours of Sunday.
Her mother, 27-year-old Yuni Sari, claimed to have fed AH and her twin two small spoons of banana each on Saturday evening. According to Yuni, though AH was smaller than her twin, both were healthy when they were being fed.
“Her twin is alright, only the elder sister (AH) choked, maybe it was her fate. I only gave them two baby spoons each, not that I force-fed them the whole banana,” Yuni said yesterday, as quoted by CNN Indonesia.
Local police say there are no signs of foul play in AH’s death.
“It began around 8pm, the mother of the victim attempted to give [AH] banana as weaning food, using a spoon before she was going to be put to bed,” Kebon Jeruk Police Chief Erick Sitepu told Suara yesterday.
AH was found dead the next morning. Yuni and her relatives brought her body to the local community health center (Puskesmas).
“On their way [to the Puskesmas], the victim’s nose bled. At the time of their arrival at Puskesmas, the victim was already dead,” Erick said.
The Puskesmas then contacted Kebon Jeruk Police, and Yuni was taken in for questioning. She reportedly told the police she wasn’t aware that babies under six months old aren’t supposed to be fed solid food due to their underdeveloped digestive system.
AH’s body was brought to the Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital (RSCM) to be further examined, the result of which showed a banana slice stuck in her respiratory tract. There were no other signs of physical trauma or abuse on AH’s body.
Though death by negligence can be considered a criminal offense in Indonesia, the police have thus far not charged Yuni for AH’s death, saying that her death was purely accidental.
Read more news from Coconuts Jakarta
