Woman claiming to be mother of abused child Nandini surrenders to cops

KUALA LUMPUR: A woman claiming to be the mother of abused child Nandini has surrendered herself to the police.

She came to the Bukit Aman police station Friday morning and led the police to a house where the four-year-old runaway had stayed before she was spotted begging for meals at a food court in Setapak earlier this week.

The police said they have also picked up the child's guardians but declined to say how many people there were or if they were relatives of the tortured girl.

“We have yet to find out the relationship between the guardians and Nandini’s family,” said City CID chief Senior Asst Comm Datuk Ku Chin Wah when contacted.

“We are still searching for Nandini’s father, whom we believe is the missing link in her abuse case,” he said. 

Known only as Nandini, the child had scars on her nose and forehead as well as fresh wounds reportedly from a hammer, spanner and pliers when a 42-year-old man found the scared-looking child near a fire station at Jalan Ayer Jerneh at around 4am on Oct 9.

Following the detention of her mother and guardians, the police have ruled out the earlier theory that she was abused by grandparents.

“We believe Nandini’s mother placed her in the care of the guardians before taking off,” said SAC Ku.

Nandini had allegedly run away from home after enduring months of abuse by those who were supposed to take care of her.

SAC Ku urged anyone aware of the whereabouts of Nandini’s father to contact the police.