Toddler found stuffed in zipped-up suitcase by bus driver who noticed 'wriggling'

Daily Record

19 hours ago

A 27-year-old woman has been charged with neglect.
A toddler was found trapped inside a suitcase which was being carried around by a woman. The woman has now been arrested following the discovery of the tot.
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A bus driver made the shocking find after noticing there was wriggling in the luggage. And the 27-year-old suspect has now been charged over the incident.
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The Mirror reports the two-year-old was freed from the case in Kaiwaka, New Zealand. The woman was charged with ill-treatment/neglect of a child after officers were called to a bus stop.
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The little girl has been taken to hospital where she is undergoing medical assessment, the force said. The incident happened on Sunday, and the woman is due to appear in the North Shore District Court tomorrow.
The relationship between the woman and the infant, who have both not been named, has not been disclosed.
"The driver became concerned when he noticed the bag moving. When the driver opened the suitcase, they discovered the two-year-old girl," New Zealand Police said a statement.
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"The little girl was reported to be very hot, but otherwise appeared physically unharmed. We would like to acknowledge and commend the bus driver, who noticed something wasn't right and took immediate action."
They said this had prevented "what could have been a far worse outcome." They added that the driver made the discovery after a passenger asked for access to the luggage compartment.
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Last month, a teenage mother locked her two-year-old daughter inside a blistering hot car so she could go and watch the new Smurfs film without interruption.
Tripura Merriex, 18, was allegedly frustrated that her child's"loud crying" was "disturbing" a cinema trip with her siblings, so proceeded to leave the little girl trapped in the hot car alone, while she carried on watching the movie.
The alleged incident unfolded at the Regal Cinema in Lake City, Utah, on Saturday, where Merriex is said to have left her vulnerable tot in her 2002 Cadillac Escalade.
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The 18-year-old parent has been charged with felony child neglect, according to US police reports. As temperatures skyrocketed to 40C, concerned witnesses called 911 to report Merriex and police were forced to bust a window to rescue the "distressed" child.
In the arrest report, an officer said: "I applied a window break to the driver side window after observing the child in the front passenger seat." The toddler was "visibly distressed" when she was found trapped inside the vehicle, Law & Crime reports.
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Police allege that the two-year-old had "a flushed red appearance, was sweating profusely and was crying in distress". It is believed that the little girl was stuck inside the sweltering hot car for at least 30 minutes.
When her mum eventually came out of the cinema, she was "very nonchalant", the police report claimed. Merriex claimed she "accidentally" locked her tot inside and "acted as though the whole situation wasn't a big deal as she just stood next to her vehicle".
The young mum said she initially brought her little girl out to the cinema lobby to keep her from "disrupting other movie viewers' experience," the report continued. After doing this "a few times", she allegedly ended up leaving her daughter alone in the car.
She left the Smurfs film occasionally to go out and check on her daughter, police claim, and even allegedly tasked her siblings with taking it in turns to check on her. Merriex is reportedly being held at the Columbia County Jail on $50,000 (£36,9600) bond.
Police Chief Gerald Butler said: "Our officers acted swiftly to ensure the safety of this young child. Leaving a child unattended in a vehicle under these conditions is unacceptable. We are thankful the child is safe and urge all parents to prioritize the well-being of their children at all times."