JOHOR BARU: Harsher penalties should have been given to a local couple for neglecting a seven-year-old boy, including locking him in a toilet, says Children’s Commissioner Dr Farah Nini Dusuki.
She added that she was appalled by a Sessions Court decision to sentence the couple to a fine and community service for gross negligence of the victim.
The couple, who locked the child in a toilet and deprived him of adequate food and drink, leaving him malnourished, were fined a total of RM17,000 and ordered to perform 440 hours of community service.
Farah Nini criticised charging them under Section 33 of the Child Act 2001 (Act 611), which pertains to leaving a child without reasonable supervision and carries what she termed as a relatively light sentence.
ALSO READ: JB couple fined RM17,000, ordered to do community service for child neglect
She argued that the severity of the offence warranted charges under Section 31 of the same Act, which covers various forms of child abuse, including neglect, and carries harsher penalties.
“The facts show that this case goes beyond simply ‘leaving a child without reasonable supervision’.
“The boy was forced to drink from the toilet, given minimal food, and suffered severe malnutrition. These are clear acts of negligence that should fall under Section 31,” she said in a statement on Monday (Feb 10).
Farah Nini warned that lenient charges and sentencing fail to serve the public interest and may inadvertently signal that child abuse is tolerable rather than unequivocally condemned.
She called on the prosecution to appeal the decision and push for a harsher sentence, including imprisonment.
“Crimes against children must be taken seriously and punished accordingly under the law,” she said.
On Feb 4, R. Thayalan, 39, and his girlfriend K. Mageswari, 41, pleaded guilty to an alternative charge before judge Thalha Bachok @ Embok Mok here
They admitted committing the offence between July and October 2023 at a house in Taman Pulai Jaya.
They were jointly charged under Section 33(1)(a) of the Child Act 2001 for neglect.
Thayalan was fined RM8,000 and ordered to perform 200 hours of community service, while Mageswari was fined RM9,000 and sentenced to 240 hours.
In an impact statement, the child said he is in fear of "Kakak" (as he called Mageswari) coming to look for him again. He now lives with his biological mother in another state.
