A 23-year-old mother was taken in for questioning after the death of her 3-month-old baby in the capital’s Por Sen Chey district on Friday, though it was ultimately ruled accidental, local authorities said yesterday.

The victim’s death allegedly happened when the mother, Nop Srey Pov, accidentally fell in the bathroom with the infant in her arms on Thursday, district chief Yem Saran said.

James McCabe, of the Child Protection Unit, added that the incident, which followed a domestic dispute, left the baby with a fractured skull.

According to Saran, Pov claimed she was only aware of the baby’s death on Friday morning, which was followed by her arrest due to initial suspicions of homicide.

However, police ruled out foul play yesterday, and Pov has since been released.

“She thought that her daughter [only had] minor injuries, so she just put the baby to sleep. But the [next] morning, she found that the baby was already dead,” Saran said.

He added that Pov, who did not take the baby to hospital as she is “poor and uneducated”, had injured her ankle, which was consistent with her claim of an accidental fall.