KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA: An air steward has been arrested in connection with the murder of a 3-year-old girl.

The girl, Chan Hui Vern, was in a coma for a week before succumbing to head injuries at the Hospital Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia on Monday.

It is learnt that Chan's mother received a call from her boyfriend on Aug 5, informing her the girl was having fits. The 27-year-old mother, who works in a hair salon, rushed back to their apartment in Bukit Jalil to find her daughter unconscious.

Following Chan's death, police arrested the 25-year-old air steward as it was believed he may have assaulted the girl in a fit of anger.

Cheras deputy police chief Superintendent Abdul Rahim Hamzah Othman confirmed the case, saying police had obtained a seven-day remand order for the steward.