Trần Hoài Thương at the police station. — VNA/VNS Photo

LÂM ĐỒNG — A man has been arrested on suspicion of brutally beating a baby girl aged just three months old.

Trần Hoài Thương from Đà Lạt City is alleged to have hit the girl so hard she ended up in hospital in a coma.

He is also accused of taping up her mouth as she sucked on a pacifier to prevent the child from crying.

At 5pm on Saturday, the child refused to drink milk. Thương is alleged to have struck her head and face and shook her head violently, causing the baby to vomit and have breathing difficulties.

When her condition didn’t improve, Thương took her to the Lâm Đồng General Hospital where police say she was admitted with multiple injuries and in a coma.

The child’s mother is accused of not intervening when her daughter was attacked. She will also be questioned by police.

In 2016, Thương was sentenced to two years in prison by the Bảo Lộc City People's Court for possession of illegal drugs.

In 2018, after serving his sentence, he moved to Đà Lạt City but continued to struggle with illegal narcotics.

In 2019, the Đà Lạt City People's Court issued a decision to send him to compulsory detoxification to treat his addiction to methamphetamine, but he failed to kick the habit.

The child remains in a serious condition in hospital. — VNS