Australian Mother Charged With Placing Baby in a Fish Tank to Stop Its Crying
An Australian court heard testimony yesterday in a case invovling a mother who reportedly put her nine-month-old daughter into an aquarium filled with water after she was unable to stop the baby from crying.
The 22-year-old, who was not identified, has pleaded not guilty in the District Court to endangering the life of the baby at her Blakeview home in May, 2007.
The father, who also cannot be named, told the court he and his then-partner had been arguing on the night the baby was allegedly put into the aquarium.
He said the child had been crying and his partner was not able to make her stop. He saw his partner walk past their bedroom and then saw her walk back without the child.
“Five to 10 seconds later I heard coughing, spluttering, splashing and screaming,” he said. “I saw (the baby) face up on her back in the tank splashing, screaming, panicking.”
