Sabahan, 22, pleads guilty to aborting pregnancy

 

A 22-year-old pregnant woman prematurely gave birth after consuming three pills, the magistrate’s court in Kota Kinabalu was told. (AFP pic)

PETALING JAYA: A 22-year-old Sabahan has pleaded guilty at the Kota Kinabalu magistrates’ court to aborting her pregnancy earlier this year by taking certain medicine to cause her child’s death.

Sentencing was deferred to Nov 2, pending a social report on the woman, according to the Borneo Post.

The woman was alleged to have deliberately consumed the pills to abort her pregnancy on July 4 at 9.30pm at a rented room in Sadong Jaya, Kota Kinabalu.

Abortion is a crime under the Penal Code, if not carried out in good faith to save the life of the mother. The law provides for a jail term of up to 10 years, or a fine, or both, on conviction.

The prosecution said the accused, who is engaged, had experienced pain in her abdomen some time at the end of June and had gone to seek treatment at a hospital, where she discovered she was pregnant, the report said.

On July 4, she purchased three pills that would end her pregnancy. She is said to have consumed one pill and inserted the other two into her private parts before she started to experience severe pain in her abdomen.

She then went to the Women and Children’s Hospital in Likas the next day with her fiance.

The woman, who was 25 weeks pregnant, gave birth to a premature baby boy at the maternity ward. The baby, which weighed 800 grams, experienced heart issues and died an hour after birth.

A doctor subsequently filed a police report.

The woman’s lawyer, Lawrence Lim, told the court that the woman was 21 when the offence was committed. He applied for a social report to be prepared for her.

Magistrate Wan Farrah Farriza Wan Ghazali, allowed the woman to be released on RM2,500 bail pending the next court date for the case. - FMT