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12-day-old Vietnamese baby stabbed in the head by another patient

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A female thief from Vietnam who stabbed a baby boy in his eye will be prosecuted for murder.

Nguyen Thi Van, 51, was attempting to steal from the hospital ward in Ho Chi Minh City last Friday (Aug 7) when the baby's mother caught her in the act.

The mother shouted for help and Nguyen, who was a fellow patient in the same ward, took out the knife and plunged it into the 12-day-old's eye socket.

According to Tuoi Tre News, the baby had been receiving treatment for pneumonia.

Mail Online reported on the baby's mum's moment of horror when she saw that her son had been stabbed.

She said: "I woke up and saw a shadowy figure approaching my bed where my son and I were lying.

"She jumped at me and we struggled and I heard a scream.

"I saw my baby crying and looked to see the knife in his face full of blood.

"When I started to cry, she ran away."

According to New York Daily News, the newborn was rushed to emergency surgery where doctors worked for three hours in order to remove the knife from the child's head.

The baby remains in critical condition.

Dr Dao Trung Hieu, deputy director of Ho Chi Minh City Children's Hospital No.1, said: "Because of the dangerous location of the blade in the brain of the child, the new-born baby might have become paralysed, suffered respiratory failure, and even died when the knife was removed.

"The baby was stabbed in the left eye socket, through the right brain but the baby's eyeball has been left unscathed.

"However, the most worrying problem postoperative period is the risk of bleeding and an infection recurrence in the brain."

Colonel Phan Van Ngan, deputy director of the Vinh Long police department, said that this case was especially serious because it was pre-meditated.

At a press conference held on Monday (Aug 10), he said that Nguyen went into shock after committing the crime and has currently been placed on suicide watch.

Tests conducted on her showed signs of "behavioural disorders" as she had refused to eat or drink apart from talking unintelligibly.

Source: New York Daily News, Mail Online, Tuoi Tre News

VietnambabystabbinghospitalUncategorisedMurder