Baby-sitter kills toddler with kitchen knife

KORONADAL CITY, Philippines — A 30-year-old woman killed with a kitchen knife her niece she was baby-sitting in Barangay Caloocan here Wednesday.

The South Cotabato Provincial Police Office identified the suspect as Marilou Manansala Bayno.

Bayno was immediately arrested by responding personnel of the Koronadal City Police, acting on reports from neighbors and barangay officials.

In an initial report to the SCPPO, the Koronadal City Police Office said probers and forensic experts found that Bayno repeatedly stabbed her toddler niece with a knife repeatedly in the abdomen, causing the child’s death. She was described as seemingly depressed, although that is likely not an assessment by a mental health professional.

Personnel of the women and children’s unit of the KCPO are now preparing criminal charges against Bayno.

She is now clamped down in a detention facility of the KCPO.

The Department of Health urges people seeking mental health support to get in touch with the National Center for Mental Health hotlines at 0917-899-USAP (8727) or 899-USAP (8727); or its Mind Matters hotline at 09189424864.