• Hospital staff alerted police after a father brought his dead 17-month-old daughter in with suspicious injuries.

• The baby’s mother couldn’t collect her child before Christmas because she had no taxi fare.

Police have arrested a father after his 17-month-old daughter died of suspicious injuries at Ermelo Provincial Hospital.

The man brought his baby girl to the hospital at 4am on Thursday, claiming she had fallen from a bed. Hospital staff called the police when they saw the child’s injuries.

“The baby was brought to the hospital by her father, who claimed she had fallen from a bed,” said police spokesperson Captain Carla Prinsloo.

The little girl was already dead when she arrived. Doctors found her neck was damaged and she had bruises at different stages of healing.

The mother, who lives in Breyten, about 29km from Ermelo, was no longer with the baby’s father.

“She left the baby with the father so that he could care for the baby for a while. She was supposed to fetch the baby just before Christmas, but she did not have money for the taxi fare,” said Prinsloo.

The mother told police that the father hadn’t been paying child support.

Pictured above: Ermelo Provincial Hospital.

Source: Supplied