Bella abuse case: Court orders two-day stay of Siti Bainun’s trial

 

Rumah Bonda founder Siti Bainun Ahd Razali would not need to enter her defence this week on charges of neglecting and abusing Down Syndrome girl Bella.

The Kuala Lumpur High Court this morning allowed an application by the accused to temporarily stay the defence stage of her case pending before the Sessions Court, scheduled for tomorrow and Friday.

High Court judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah ordered the interim stay pending his delivering his decision over the prosecution’s preliminary objection against a legal bid by Siti Bainun. Sequerah would make his decision on Jan 13.

However, the stay order does not apply to her other Sessions Court trial dates, namely Jan 16 onwards.

Deputy public prosecutor Nor Azizah Mohamad, through written submissions filed in the High Court, objected to the mode taken by the accused to challenge the validity of the two charges against her.

The prosecution contended that Siti Bainun should have made the revision via letter rather than by notice of motion, which goes against the requirements of the Courts of Judicature Act and the Criminal Procedure Code.

However, Siti Bainun’s counsel PG Cyril countered that the High Court should proceed to hear the revision as the two sets of law quoted by the prosecution do not specifically make it procedurally fatal to initiate revision via notice of motion.

Cyril added that the High Court should allow an interim stay over the lower court’s trial as Siti Bainun allegedly “does not know what to answer” from the purportedly defective charges.

Prima facie case

Previously, during the prosecution stage of the trial, Sessions Court judge Izralizam Sanusi dismissed the accused’s application to challenge the validity of the charges.

Then on Nov 24 last year, the lower court ordered Siti Bainun to enter her defence in the child abuse case involving 14-year-old Bella, ruling that the prosecution succeeded in establishing a prima facie (answerable) case against her.

Six days later, she went to the High Court to nullify the Sessions Court’s dismissal of her challenge over the two charges.

In 2021 before the Sessions Court, Siti Bainun claimed trial for neglecting and abusing the teen to the point that the girl suffered physical and emotional injuries, with the two charges framed under Section 31(1)(a) of the Child Act 2001.

The offences were allegedly committed in a condominium unit in Wangsa Maju between February and June of that same year.

The accused may be imprisoned for up to 20 years, fined not more than RM50,000, or both if she is found guilty.

In ordering Siti Bainun to enter her defence, Izralizam ruled that Bella would not have suffered such pain if she was looked after well.

The trial judge ruled that the court found the victim suffered physical and emotional injuries while under Siti Bainun’s custody, based on the testimony of prosecution witnesses, comprising medical experts from Kuala Lumpur Hospital (HKL) who treated Bella, and the former residents of Rumah Bonda, as well as based on photographs of Bella’s injuries and recordings via mobile phones. - Mkini