Rumah Bonda founder started abusing Bella after ‘curtain rod’ incident, court told

 

Siti Bainun Ahd Razali has claimed trial to two counts of abandonment and abusing Bella, a Down Syndrome teen under her care.

PETALING JAYA: The founder of a welfare home started abusing a Down Syndrome teenager in her care after an incident where the teen accidentally pulled the curtains until the rod became dislodged, the sessions court was told today.

Yasmin Nahar Mahmood, who is the prosecution’s fifth witness, said it was from then on that Bella, 13, began to be treated differently by the founder of welfare home Rumah Bonda, Siti Bainun Ahd Razali.

“Bella had entered the bedroom where I and several children were sleeping and pulled the curtains until the curtain rod became dislodged. When Siti Bainun found out, she became irate and started to hit Bella,” Utusan Malaysia reported Yasmin as telling the court.

Yasmin however said she could not remember when the incident took place.

According to the report, Yasmin said Bella would be stripped naked and tied up before being splashed with hot water.

Asked by defence lawyer Asiah Abdul Jalil why only certain parts of Bella’s body had been scarred due to the incident, Yasmin said it was because Bella was wearing diapers and that she did not move.

Siti Bainun, 30, pleaded not guilty to two counts of abandonment and abusing Bella, resulting in the victim sustaining physical and emotional injuries, at a condo unit in Wangsa Maju here between February and June 2021.

She was charged under Section 31(1)(a) of the Child Act 2001, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment or a RM50,000 fine, or both upon conviction. - FMT