Haunting words of boy, 6, who killed newborn after being left to roam hospital maternity unit – as grieving dad speaks
The shocking incident unfolded at the Jeanne-de-Flandre Children's Hospital in Lille, France, where baby Zayneb-Cassandra had been recovering after a premature birth.
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Despite being born six weeks early, the infant had been doing well - until last Friday when she was found lying unresponsive on the floor beside her crib, with a serious brain injury.
A six-year-old boy was discovered beside her, standing on a chair.
He is believed to have plucked her from her crib and accidentally dropped her.
Zayneb was resuscitated twice and placed on life support over the weekend, but she tragically died on Tuesday.
Witnesses claimed the boy had been wandering the halls alone for days, with one woman saying he had already tried to touch another baby.
The child was reportedly unsupervised as his mother was also recovering from giving birth.
Delphine, a young woman who had recently given birth herself, was the first to discover the scene after hearing a 'loud bang'.
'He was running around everywhere and had already touched a baby in a stroller,' she told Le Parisien.
The 20-year-old added that she found him beside Zayneb, referring to her as 'my doll'.
The baby's grieving father, Mohamed-Hamza, 23, spoke of his devastation but said he doesn't hold the boy personally responsible.
'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,' he told Le Parisien.
He and his partner Sephora are now demanding answers from hospital authorities, accusing them of failing to protect their daughter.
Zayneb's grandmother Fatma claimed the boy had entered the neonatal room before and had shown a disturbing interest in the baby.
'He said she looked like a doll, and my husband, who was there, took him out,' she told La Voix du Nord.
'It seems he tried to grab her by her nappy, and she fell on her head.'
The family claim Zayneb had already shown signs of being mishandled in the hours before her fatal fall.
Karima, a cousin, alleged that the day before the incident, the baby had been found 'without a diaper or electrodes, wet and suffering from hypothermia'.
She also claimed the boy had been left at the hospital daily from 7am to 8pm by his father, running unchecked through the corridors.
'All the mothers were complaining,' Fatma said.
'A nurse even warned the child's mother that there was a problem. He was entering the other rooms.'
A criminal investigation has now been launched by the juvenile unit of the Lille Judicial Police Service, working with local prosecutors.
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The hospital has also opened an internal investigation and released a statement describing the tragedy as a 'particularly serious and upsetting exceptional event, unrelated to care'.
But the family has dismissed the hospital's remarks.
'It won't bring my daughter back… But we're waiting for answers,' said Mohamed-Hamza.
'There was a breach, and I'm going to fight to identify those responsible. Justice will do its job.'
Zayneb's mother, Sephora, is said to be inconsolable.
The family claimed they had to push hospital staff to provide psychological support following the baby's death.
'My family is destroyed,' said Fatma.
'My daughter is devastated. Coming home without her baby is inconceivable.'
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