KUALA LUMPUR: A close friend of Rumah Bonda founder told the Sessions Court here that three residents of the welfare home saw Siti Bainun Ahd Razali abusing the teenage girl with Down syndrome known as Bella at a condominium unit last year.
Assistant manager of a private company, Zurianty Sudin, 39, said the three, “Eyna, Aida and Balqis”, were living with Siti Bainun and Bella when the incident happened.
The first prosecution witness, called back to testify, said this during cross-examination by lawyer Mohammad Farhan Maaruf, representing Siti Bainun at her trial, where she is charged with neglecting and abusing the 13-year-old girl.
Mohammad Farhan: Apart from Yasmin (Yasmin Nahar Mahmood), to your knowledge, do you agree that no one has ever seen Siti Bainun abusing Bella?
Zurianty: I don’t agree.
Mohammad Farhan: Which means, you are aware that other individuals apart from Yasmin witnessed Siti Bainun abusing Bella.
Zurianty: Yes.
Yasmin had earlier testified that she had seen Siti Bainun abusing Bella every day from March 2021 to June 24, 2021.
Witness statement: Siti Bainun (centre) at court to attend trial where she is charged with neglect and abuse. — Bernama
In reply to a question from Siti Bainun’s lawyer Nurul Hafidzah Hassan, the witness said she knew an activist named Mona Din and had communicated with the woman for the first time on Facebook.
Zurianty said she was surprised when the video of Bella’s injury went viral after the activist shared it on Facebook, as she had never given the video to Mona Din and was not in support of making the case viral on social media.
However, Zurianty admitted she had uploaded a post on Bella’s case on her Facebook account.
Siti Bainun, 30, faces two charges of neglecting and abusing the teenage girl. The victim suffered physical and emotional distress between February and June 2021 at a condominium unit in Wangsa Maju here.
The trial before Judge Izralizam Sanusi continues tomorrow. — Bernama
