JOHOR BARU: Police here have arrested five people over the death of a nine-month-old baby girl who was allegedly abused.
Johor Baru North OCPD Asst Comm Balveer Singh said a medical officer from Hospital Sultanah Aminah notified the police at around 6.55pm last Thursday (April 25) about the victim who was receiving treatment at the intensive care unit due to suspected abuse.
“At around 10pm on the same day, a team from the Johor Baru North district police headquarters arrested two foreign women and a local man, who is the boyfriend to one of the suspects.
“The two female suspects are friends of the baby’s mother, who is a Vietnamese woman. Besides that, a married couple were also arrested as they were the victim’s babysitter,” he said in a statement late Tuesday (April 30) night.
He added that the arrests were made separately at several locations in Johor Baru.
“The baby girl was pronounced dead at around 3.50am on April 26 and a post-mortem revealed criminal elements leading to her death. We are also trying to track down the victim’s mother to aid the investigation,” he said.
ACP Balveer added that all the arrested suspects are aged from 29 to 42 and have been placed under a six-day remand starting April 26.
“The remand order will be extended once it ends on Wednesday (May 1) as we believe the two women - friends of the victim’s mother - took care of the baby for a period of time before she died,” he said.
The case is being investigated under Section 31(1)(a) of the Child Act 2001, and is punishable with up to 20 years’ imprisonment, a maximum fine of RM50,000 or both upon conviction.
He urged those with information regarding the case to call the state police hotline at 07-2212999 or by visiting the nearest police station.
