A three-month-old baby boy has died in Isoka District, Zambia, being found with injuries suspected to have been caused by rats while he slept under a mosquito net.
The infant is said to have been laid down to sleep inside a house at Lolani Village in the Kafwimbi area around midday on Tuesday by his 17-year-old mother.
According to the police report, the teenage mother, who lives with her own mother, left the baby inside the house and went outside to chat with her mother and other neighbourhood residents.
When she later returned to check on the infant, she found him unresponsive, with visible injuries to his nose and scrotal sac.
She alerted the baby’s grandmother and other people, who went into the house and also found the child unresponsive.
The infant was rushed to Isoka District Hospital, but he was pronounced dead on arrival.
Police officers who visited the hospital observed the injuries, with preliminary findings suggesting that rats could have caused the wounds.
However, the circumstances surrounding the injuries and the actual cause of death have yet to be established.
