Child Act 2001 must improve to be more inclusive, say lawyers holding watching brief in Bella's case
03 May 2023 04:05pm
Siti Bainun at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court - Bernama Pix
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According to a media statement issued by the group of lawyers who are appointed by the Tunku Mahkota of Johor (TMJ) Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim, cases of neglect and abuse is a manifestation of legal loopholes that need to be immediately covered by making improvements to the law.
"It is important to ensure that the operation of child care centres is only carried out by those who are well-trained and not make the centres a medium to collect donations or contributions from any party," it read.
The lawyers consisted of Datuk Khairul Anwar Rahmat, Datuk Baljit Singh Sidhu, Datuk Ikbal Salam and Mohd Radzi Yatiman.
They said the Social Welfare Department (JKM) and the National Council for Children need to immediately activate a comprehensive policy and action plan for children.
"Policies and plans that already exist should be activated to ensure that the case of child neglect and abuse like in the case of Down syndrome girl Bella does not happen again.
"These plans and policies need to be implemented with strict compliance and should not be done seasonally when there is a case of child abuse," according to the statement.
According to the lawyers, they saw the injuries caused by the abuse on Bella, which were too painful for a child to bear that it could cause mental, emotional and physical trauma.
"We, as the lawyers appointed by the Tunku Mahkota Johor to hold a watching brief in the case express our appreciation to the 'JusticeforBella' activists who opened the public's eyes to the episode of abuse that took place and also thanked the Tunku Mahkota of Johor and his wife for their concern," read the statement.
Siti Bainun, 31, was sentenced to a total of 22 years in prison by the Sessions Court here after she was found guilty of two counts of neglecting and abusing Bella.
The court sentenced her to 10 years in prison for neglect and 12 years in prison for abuse, but Siti Bainun only had to serve 12 years in prison as the court ordered the jail sentences to be served concurrently from today. - BERNAMA
