MELAKA - Melaka police have detained a man and his 17-year-old girlfriend for allegedly concealing a birth and aborting a 22-week-old foetus.
State police chief Datuk Dzulkhairi Mukhtar said the case was uncovered after a medical officer at Melaka Hospital reported a teenage girl who arrived around 6.50 pm on April 25, covered in blood and believed to have miscarried.
He said the girl was suspected of taking abortion pills, which caused heavy bleeding after the placenta was not expelled.
"The girl told authorities the foetus was lifeless and had been buried by her boyfriend at an unknown location.
"Police arrested the boyfriend at about 11.40 pm on April 25. The girl was detained at about 3.15 pm yesterday after being discharged from hospital,” he said in a statement today, adding that both suspects have no prior criminal record and tested negative for drugs.
Police believe the couple had planned the abortion using pills.
Dzulkhairi said the male suspect later took the foetus from the girl’s house and planned to bury it behind his home. He first hid it in a car parked at his house.
"The case is being investigated under Section 318 of the Penal Code, which carries up to two years’ jail, a fine, or both.
"The deputy public prosecutor has instructed that the man be charged under Section 318, while the girl will be charged under Section 315. Both will be charged at the Ayer Keroh Court on May 8,” he added. - BERNAMA