Rumah Bonda founder Siti Bainun arriving at the court complex for the trial on July 21. – Bernamapic
KUALA LUMPUR: The Sessions Court here was told that Bella, the teenager with Down Syndrome at the centre of an abuse trial here, was determined to be 15 years old by a bone age X-ray examination in 2020.
The medical officer at the Radiology Department of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Dr B. Anulaawathi, said the girl’s age was found to be 15 after analysis was made through three aspects: chronological age, brush foundation data and based on the reference book The Radiographic Atlas Skeletal Development of the Hand and Wrist Book by Greulich and Pyle.
The 13th prosecution witness, who was previously with the Radiology Department at Hospital Tunku Azizah, Kuala Lumpur, said the report on the X-ray was completed on Aug 3, 2020, following an application by the Paediatric Department on July 23 that year.
ALSO READ: Bella was thin, in state of fear when I met her at HKL - witness
"When compared with the X-ray reference image for a 13-year-old, we found it was still not the same as the X-ray scan of Bella's bones... Bella is older than the reference photo of a person aged 13 years and six months.
"We continued to look at the reference picture for the age of 15 and we found that the picture was similar to Bella's X-ray, whereby the bone growth plate in the wrist was still visible," he said at the trial of Rumah Bonda founder Siti Bainun Ahd Razali before judge Izralizam Sanusi on Thursday (July 21).
Questioned by deputy public prosecutor Nor Azizah Mohamad during examination-in-chief whether the use of the reference book was standard operating procedure for bone age analysis in hospitals nationwide, the witness answered yes.
ALSO READ: Cops say they did not leak pictures of Bella's injuries to public
According to Dr Anulaawathi, the reference book contains a series of X-rays as a reference for the gender and age of an individual from birth to age 18.
To another question from the prosecution on whether he had met Bella or any of the paediatric team while doing the bone age analysis, he said he had not, as there was no need to do so because all the information was already in the system.
When questioned by lawyer Nur A’minahtul Mardiah Md Nor, representing Siti Bainun, the witness agreed that his role was only to prepare a report after receiving instructions from the paediatric team.
Siti Bainun, 30, is facing two charges of neglecting and abusing the girl, causing the victim to suffer physical and emotional injuries.
She is charged with committing the offence at a condominium in Wangsa Maju here between February and June last year.
The charge, under Section 31 (1) (a) of the Child Act 2001, carries imprisonment of up to 20 years or a maximum fine of RM50,000 or both, if convicted.
The trial continues. – Bernama
