The suspect

The Adentan Magistrate Court has asked the police to continue holding the caregiver who was arrested over the death of an 11-month-old baby girl.

Clara Ayani-Ampah, the caregiver at Happy Bloomers Creche at Agbogba, was remanded to reappear on June 25, this year.

The 54-year-old is currently facing a provisional charge of negligently causing harm, while the police waits for the Attorney General’s advice on a docket that has been forwarded to it.

A lawyer, whose name was not made available, prayed the court for bail for his client, but the prosecutor, Inspector Jacob Nyarko, holding brief for Chief Inspector Grace Prempeh, urged the court to turn down the bail application arguing that if she was granted bail, she might interfere with investigations.

The court, presided over by Ms Linda Amissah, subsequently declined the application.

Arrest

Clara was arrested after the parents of the baby reported the death of the child to the Agbogba Police at North Legon, Accra, on May 18, this year.

A footage from a close circuit television (CCTV) camera, which has since gone viral, exposed Clara, who was seen force-feeding the little girl in the school.

The baby later fell ill the same day but was pronounced dead when she was taken to the North Legon Hospital.

Incident

A team of police investigators went to the hospital and examined the body of the victim after which they conveyed it to the Police Hospital morgue.

The Proprietress of the school, Mrs Christiana Atta Kumah, later handed over a footage of the CCTV recordings of the day’s activities in the school to the police.

Clara is seen in the video trying to force some food substance in a cup, believed to be porridge, into the mouth of the girl with the baby’s hands held tightly at her back .

She is also seen pushing the baby’s head into the cup apparently to get the little girl to eat, while the helpless baby, who appears to be suffocating, screams and throws her legs in the air.

The body has since been released to the family for burial.