Young couple plead guilty to neglecting newborn baby

CHUKAI: A young couple pleaded guilty in the Sessions Court here on Thursday (May 23), to the charge of neglecting their one-week-old baby boy, on May 18.

Nur Aisyah Azila Zairul Akmal, 21, and Muhammad Alhafiz Mukminin Mohd Noor, 24, confessed after the charges were read against them, before Judge Wan Suhaila Mohd.

Both of them were jointly charged as persons having custody of the baby, to have neglected in a manner likely to cause physical injury to the infant.

The offence was allegedly committed at a shop in Jalan Air Putih here, between 7am and 7.15am, on May 18.

The charge was framed under Section 31(1) (a) of the Child Act 2001 and can be punished under Section 31(1) of the same law, and, read together with Section 34 of the Penal Code, which provides for a maximum fine of RM50,000 or imprisonment not exceeding 20 years, or both, upon conviction.

Wan Suhaila then allowed the accused to be bailed at RM2,000 in one surety each and set May 28 for sentencing.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Syairah Mohamad Razali appeared for the prosecution, while the two accused were represented by lawyer Nurul Farhana Shamsudin from the National Legal Aid Foundation.

According to the facts of the case, a newborn baby boy was found shivering from cold on the floor of a shop, by a chicken truck driver, at about 7.30am on Saturday (May 18).

The three-kilogramme baby was born on May 12, at a house in Jabur Kubur, before being abandoned at the shop on May 18, and on Monday the couple were arrested at two separate locations.- Bernama