KUALA LUMPUR: Rumah Bonda founder Siti Bainun Ahd Razali who allegedly neglected and abused Bella, a 13-year-old girl with Down Syndrome, sobbed uncontrollably as six children and teenagers who had been under her care at the shelter home, including the victim, were brought into court.
Siti Bainun, who was sitting in the dock, could not control her emotions when the names of the children and teenagers, aged between three and 17, were mentioned and they entered the courtroom for the identification session, behind a curtain.
They were identified by three witnesses, namely a company assistant manager Zurianty Sudin, 39, Rumah Bonda resident Yasmin Nahar Mahmood, 19, and a law firm’s legal research officer Suhana Zam, 40, Bernama reported.
Earlier, lawyer Nur A’minahtul Mardiah Md Nor, representing Siti Bainun, requested for the six individuals to take a look at her client to see their reactions.
Day in court: Siti Bainun (centre) enters the Kuala Lumpur Court Complex to attend a hearing on the charges she faces involving the neglect of a 13-year-old girl. — Bernama
“If we want their identities to be kept secret, the public can be asked to leave and the curtain can be removed,” she said.
Deputy public prosecutor Nor Azizah Mohamad then said there was a need to protect the individuals involved as they were children and a victim (Bella).
Sessions judge Izralizam Sanusi said it was just an identification process and the children were not being called to give statements.
“If the prosecution feels there is a need for the public to leave (the courtroom), there is no problem,” he said.
DPP Nor Azizah, however, said there was no problem for the media and the public to be in the public gallery as it was only an identification process.
Siti Bainun, 30, has pleaded not guilty to two charges of neglect and abusing Bella, at a condominium in Wangsa Maju between February and June 2021.
The trial continues.
