MELAKA: A young couple pleaded guilty at two separate Magistrate’s Courts in Ayer Keroh here on Thursday (May 8) to charges related to concealing the birth of a baby and administering medication to prevent the child from being born alive.
The first proceeding before Magistrate Sharda Shienha Mohd Suleiman, 18-year-old Adam Harith Ahmad admitted to concealing the birth of a baby by secretly disposing of the body after the infant was delivered stillborn by his 17-year-old girlfriend.
According to the charge, the accused wrapped the body before placing it in the boot of a car at Kampung Batu Gajah in Merlimau, Jasin, at about 11.40pm on April 25.
The offence, framed under Section 318 of the Penal Code, carries a jail term of up to two years, a fine, or both upon conviction.
Deputy public prosecutor Syaza Nur Sharif proposed bail at RM15,000.
However, counsel Mohd Farid Abdul Aziz pleaded for a lower bail, saying the accused was still young while his mother was a retiree and single parent who was also caring for the family’s grandmother.
The court allowed bail at RM3,500 and fixed June 10 as the next mention date pending a chemical analysis report and a social report from the Social Welfare Department.
In separate proceedings before Magistrate Uthman Abd Ghani, the teenager’s girlfriend also pleaded guilty to consuming “Misoprostol” with the intent to prevent the baby from being born alive.
The offence was allegedly committed in a room at Taman Sutera Wangi in Batu Berendam at about 10am on April 25.
The prosecution was carried out by Inspector Nur Zaidah Muhamad Zailani, while the charge was framed under Section 315 of the Penal Code, which relates to acts done with the intent to prevent a child from being born alive, which provides for imprisonment of up to 10 years, a fine, or both upon conviction.
The court set the bail at RM1,500 and fixed July 9 for the submission of a social report from the Social Welfare Department.
