PARTI Bangsa Malaysia (PBM) has joined the chorus of voices urging prosecutors to revise the charges from murder to infanticide in the case involving a 15-year-old rape victim in Kemaman, Terengganu who had killed her newborn boy last week.
Kemaman police chief Superintendent Hanyan Ramlan said the baby boy had stab wounds to the left side of his chest.
The girl was charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code and the girl’s lawyer, Nurainie Haziqah Shafii, confirmed with news portal FMT that a bail application was submitted but rejected by the court.
According to PBM Wanita chief Dr Daroyah Alwi, the prosecutors should show more compassion when investigating such cases and draw a clear distinction between murder and infanticide.
“When a woman who has just delivered appears to have ended her child’s life within 24 hours after birth, she should be charged with infanticide and not murder,” she explained.
Dr Daroyah further noted that this case warranted intervention by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law) Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar as it concerned a child who was not in the right state of mind at the time of the incident.
The authorities must consider the girl’s state of mind and the distress she was enduring at the time of the incident and she should qualify for bail, she continued while emphasizing that the teenager was a rape victim and she should not be placed with any adult who has been charged with an offence.
On a related note, she said that PBM supports calls for children to have access to free legal services and for the Government to strongly take into consideration recommendations by the Parliamentary Special Select Committee on Women, Children and Social Development in dealing with children in conflict with the law.
“Apart from this, there should also be clear standard operating procedures when dealing with children from the point of detention till the completion of the judicial process,” she remarked.
“This will ensure the children are fully protected, not traumatised and are placed in a safe place pending all investigations.
“The teenager in this incident should be given postpartum and psychological treatment and not merely prosecuted for the case.” – Feb 16, 2022
