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Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Nepalese charged again with abortion

Nirmala Thapa (right) at the Bukit Mertajam Sessions Court today after re-entering her plea over an abortion case. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Hasnoor Hussain, January 13, 2014.Nirmala Thapa (right) at the Bukit Mertajam Sessions Court today after re-entering her plea over an abortion case. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Hasnoor Hussain, January 13, 2014.
Nepalese Nirmala Thapa, whose abortion conviction was quashed yesterday, was charged again today at the Bukit Mertajam Sessions Court.
However, no plea was recorded as the court had yet to appoint a registered Nepalese translator for her.
Session Court judge M. Vijayalakshmi set January 29 for mention to record the plea in the presence of a translator.
Deputy public prosecutor Sim Saw Kim prosecuted.
The 24-year-old Nirmala, who worked in a factory in Penang, was caught by Health Ministry officials at a clinic in Taman Ciku on October 9 last year.
She was resting at the clinic after the procedure when the officials entered the premises for an inspection.
Nirmala was charged on October 13 at the Bukit Mertajam Sessions Court under Section 315 of the Penal Code for allegedly preventing a child from being born.
Under the section, it is an offence to prevent a child from being born alive or to cause it to die after birth. The offence is punishable by imprisonment for a term that may extend to 10 years, fine or both, if the act is not caused in good faith for the purpose of saving the life of the mother.
Nirmala's case was postponed for a translator to be found and when the case resumed on November 12, she was found guilty and jailed a year.
Her conviction drew criticism from women and human rights groups, which argued that although induced abortion was illegal in Malaysia, the termination of pregnancy was legally allowed if done by qualified doctors, as provided under Section 312 of the Penal Code.
Her case was brought to the Penang High Court last week.
Following revelations that she did not understand the language used by the court interpreter when she was charged last year, her earlier conviction was set aside.
Judicial commissioner Datuk Nordin Hassan ordered Nirmala to re-enter her plea at the Bukit Mertajam Sessions Court and granted RM5,000 bail in one surety.
Nirmala was represented by V. Amareson and E. Gnasegaran, who was also holding a watching brief for the Malaysian Bar Council.
- TMI

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