KOTA KINABALU: A 30-year-old local woman has been arrested on suspicion of abandoning her newborn baby boy who subsequently died at Kampung Burung in Lahad Datu on July 18.
Lahad Datu district police chief Asst Comm Dzulbaharin Ismail said that police arrested a woman on Sunday (July 20) outside a house in the village.
"The suspect admitted to giving birth to the baby in question at her home and leaving it outside the house in Kampung Burung, Jalan Bakawali," he said, adding that they would seek to have the woman remanded.
He said the case was being investigated under Section 317 of the Penal Code for abandoning a baby.
"If found guilty, she can be sentenced to up to seven years in prison, or a fine, or both," he said.
The baby boy was found wrapped in cloth in front of a house of the public at 3.06 am on Friday (July 18).
The baby, who was still alive then, was sent to Lahad Datu Hospital for treatment.
However, the baby died at 7.02pm the same day due to complications from its premature birth.
