The founder of Rumah Bonda has been handed a jail sentence of 12 years following her conviction on two counts of neglecting and abusing a teen with Down syndrome known as Bella.
The Sessions Court in Kuala Lumpur this morning meted out the sentence against Siti Bainun Ahd Razali in the case involving the abuse of the 13-year-old girl.
Trial judge Izralizam Sanusi ordered the sentence to run from today. He imposed 10 years’ jail for the first charge, and 12 years’ jail for the second charge.
The judge also ordered Siti Bainun to perform 200 hours of community service after the completion of her jail sentence and to sign a five-year good behaviour bond.
As Siti Bainun looked on from the dock, Izralizam ruled that her sentencing took into account the will of Parliament to stamp out the social problem of child abuse via the courts.
The judge pointed out that Parliament had passed amendments to the Children's Act 2001 to strengthen the maximum penalties that the criminal court can mete out upon successful conviction for child neglect and abuse.
“The amendments showed the intent of Parliament to ensure that such offences are subjected to heavy sentencing upon any conviction by the court,” he said.
Izralizam said that children are vulnerable and defenceless and rely on society to safeguard them and that the full weight of the law should fall on offenders that caused harm to children.
“Public interest must be considered in this case. Bella’s injuries are serious and left scars on her being as well as physical.
“What the accused did to Bella was cruel and justified a heavy sentence to remind the accused and society that this offence must not be perpetrated at all.
“The accused is an activist involved in children’s welfare. She should have known better than to violate the trust put in her,” the judge said as Siti Bainun looked on from the dock.
After hearing submissions from the prosecution and the defence team, Izralizam this afternoon denied the application by Siti Bainun’s lawyers to stay the execution of the sentence, pending their appeal to the High Court. The notice of appeal was filed after the sentencing was meted out.
The 31-year-old accused is expected to be escorted by police officers to prison this afternoon.
In reading out his judgment earlier when finding the accused guilty, Izralizam ruled that the testimonies by Siti Bainun and other defence witnesses were mere hearsay, especially over the allegation that Bella’s injuries were caused by a purported accidental exposure to drenched hot water rather than abuse.
The judge noted that evidence in court showed that the injuries on Bella were older than the purported accidental exposure to hot water in May 2021.
“This shows that the incident with the hot water never happened,” the judge said, adding that the oral evidence given by the 31-year-old accused and seven other defence witnesses could not be believed or accepted by the trial court.
Short jail term ‘due to her large size’
During submission over sentencing, Siti Bainun’s counsel Farhan Maaruf pleaded for a lenient non-custodial sentence because the accused had repented over the incident.
The lawyer added that in the event that Siti Bainun is sentenced to jail, he pleaded for a short custodial term as “current prison facilities cannot cater for a person of her (Siti Bainun) physical being”.
“This is due to her large size and attendant health (issues). A long prison sentence would impact the accused’s health,” Farhan said.
However, deputy public prosecutor Zahida Zakaria sought a deterrent sentence because Siti Bainun betrayed the trust of Bella and the community to discharge her duty as a caregiver of children.
The DPP pointed out that Bella’s injuries are grave and covered a large part of her body.
“The scars from the injuries are permanent and would stay with Bella for the rest of her life,” Zahida said.
Izralizam then stood down proceedings temporarily to decide what sentence to mete out against the accused.
The prosecution called a total of 22 witnesses during the prosecution stage of the trial, which started on March 30 last year.
Among them are Yasmin Nahar Mahmood, a former resident of Rumah Bonda, psychiatrist Dr Wan Asyikin Wan Azlan, assistant manager of a private company, Zurianty Sudin, and plastic surgeon Dr Salmi Mohamed Shukur.
On Nov 24 last year, the court ordered Siti Bainun to enter her defence on the two charges after finding that the prosecutors succeeded in establishing a prima facie (answerable) case against Siti Bainun.
Siti Bainun was alleged to have committed the offence at a condominium unit in Wangsa Maju between February and June 2021.
The charges are framed under Section 31(1)(a) of the Children's Act 2001, which carries a maximum of 20 years imprisonment or a fine of RM50,000 or both if convicted. - Mkini
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