A babysitter accused of abusing an infant in her care has been described as a “24-hour mum” who always wants the best for her children.
Syeda Sokina Begum was looking after a friend’s youngster at her home in Garthdee when they suddenly fell ill on New Year’s Day 2017.
The baby was rushed to hospital by ambulance in a “floppy and blue” state that evening and doctors later discovered she had suffered bleeding on her brain and in her eyes.
She spent nearly two weeks in hospital and suffered a number of seizures before she was deemed well enough to go home.
Begum, 29, is on trial at the High Court in Aberdeen accused of causing the injuries by “repeatedly shaking” the child and putting her life at risk.
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But as the trial entered its third week yesterday, her husband Abdul Malik gave evidence regarding his memory of the days leading up to the alleged incident.
He told defence lawyer Frances Connor that his wife, who is known to many by her nickname Soks, has had a second child since the incident and “loves being a mother”.
He said: “The children mean the world to her.
“I literally do nothing, I just work – she does everything for them, from clothing to breakfast and feeding. She does everything.”
And he said they both “really enjoyed” looking after the “happy and bubbly” baby to the extent that she inspired them to try for another child.
“We thought we’d try again after five or six years,” he said.
“The baby was really good. She hardly cried. So after that we planned to have another child and Soks got pregnant that January.”
Begum denies the charge and claims she left the baby on her own for around 10 minutes and, when she came back, found her “gasping for breath”.
But last week a series of expert witnesses cast doubt on her version of events, including one who said the symptoms could all be explained by a recent, but forceful, head injury.
The trial, before Lord Uist, continues.