Prosecutors fail in bid for harsher sentence for nanny who caused death of two-year-old girl

DUBAI // Prosecutors have failed in their bid to have a harsher sentence handed down to an unlicensed nanny convicted of causing the death of a two-year-old girl in her care.

The 31-year-old from Pakistan was given a suspended one-year jail term by the Dubai Criminal Court after the child died from internal bleeding and head injuries suffered in a fall from a couch.

The nanny had advertised her services online and was contacted by the child’s mother who was looking for a nursery to care for her daughter while she was at work.

The 22-year-old from Morocco visited the nanny’s apartment and found other children already in her care.

“The apartment was prepared and other children were in her care already,” said the mother, who agreed to leave her daughter with the nanny from 7am to 3pm for Dh650.

The mother said she only sent her daughter there twice - on July 9 last year and on the day of the incident on July 12.

On that day the nanny sent the mother pictures of her child on Whatsapp to keep her mind at ease. However, just before 3pm she received several calls from the nanny.

“She told me that my daughter was not well,” said the mother, adding that when she got to the apartment she found her child was having trouble breathing and could barely open her eyes.

“I tried to breast feed her but she would not, then she said ‘mummy’ and that’s it,” said the mother, who rushed her daughter to a nearby clinic with her husband.

Staff called for an ambulance to take her to Latifa Hospital where she was admitted to intensive care. Her condition worsened and the girl died the following day.

Doctors informed the mother and her Pakistani husband, 32, that their daughter had died due a haemorrhage caused by a fall as two bruises were found on her forehead and the bottom of her head.

The nanny told the parents their child had fallen off a couch and landed on her head when she went to the kitchen to get some water.

In court last February, the nanny denied a charge of causing the death of a child by failing to provide proper care.

She was convicted and given a suspended sentence and ordered to pay a Dh200,000 in blood money to the family. The sentence was upheld by the Dubai Court of Appeal.