KUALA LUMPUR – Rumah Bonda founder Siti Bainun Ahd Razali has been found guilty by the sessions court here of abusing and neglecting a teenager with Down’s Syndrome two years ago.
According to media reports, sessions court judge Izralizam Sanusi ruled that the defence team had failed to cast reasonable doubt against the prosecution’s case.
Izralizam sentenced her to 10 years in prison for the offence of neglecting the girl and 12 years in prison for the second charge of abusing her.
However, the court ordered her to serve the sentences concurrently from today, meaning she will be serving only 12 years in jail.
Siti Bainun, 31, had previously been charged for abusing and neglecting 13-year-old Bella, allegedly causing her to suffer physical and emotional injuries in 2021.
The two charges were framed under Section 31(1) of the Child Act on neglect and abuse, with the law providing a prison term of up to 20 years or a fine of RM50,000, or both, if found guilty.
Deputy public prosecutors Nor Azizah Mohamad, Zilfinaz Abbas, Zahida Zakaria and Shakira Aliana Alias represented the prosecution while lawyer Mohammad Farhan Maaruf appeared as Siti Bainun’s defence counsel.
On March 9, the defence closed its case after calling eight witnesses, with Siti Bainun as the first defence witness to testify in the proceedings that started on January 26.
Among the other witnesses who testified were Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia’s senior lecturer in the field of developmental psychology of children and adolescents with special needs Dr Abdul Rahman Ahmad Badayai, an interviewer at the Children’s Interview Centre Siti Nur Balqes Abdul Rahim, and Nor Aidil Farhab Johaizad.
A total of 22 prosecution witnesses testified in the trial at the prosecution stage, which started on March 30 last year, including a former resident of Rumah Bonda Yasmin Nahar Mahmood, psychiatrist Dr Wan Asyikin Wan Azlan, assistant manager of a private company Zurianty Sudin and plastic surgeon Dr Salmi Mohamed Shukur. – The Vibes, May 3, 2023
