Thursday January 17, 2013

Lorry driver did not sell his children, cops confirm

By FARIK ZOLKEPLI and EILEEN NG
newsdesk@thestar.com.my

PETALING JAYA: The lorry driver who allegedly sold three of his children to pay his creditors did not do so after all.

“The children were not sold. They were adopted by three families in Kuala Selangor, the first adoption taking place last September,” Hulu Selangor OCPD Supt Norel Azmi Yahya Afendy said.

He said that while the children's mother had lodged a report last month alleging that the children had been sold, the father had already come forward to produce all the necessary documents supporting the legal adoption, including letters from the Welfare Department and letters of consent signed in front of a Commissioner for Oaths.

“We have full details of the adoption. If we suspected the children had been sold, then we would have taken action.” he said.

He said that after the police report was lodged, the parents came to the police station to sort out the matter with an officer from the Welfare Department present.

“Both parents are awaiting a decision by the Kuala Selangor magistrate's court over the mother's claim to the children,” he said yesterday.

MCA Public Complaints and Services Department head Datuk Seri Michael Chong said the parents of the children would meet today to discuss the matter.

“The father contacted me and claimed it was his right to give the children up for adoption. He claimed he had not done anything illegal.”

Selangor Welfare Department director Nik Omar Rahman echoed this view.

“Of course, it would be better if he had obtained the mother's consent as well but a consent letter from the father is sufficient.

“It would also have been better if they had registered the adoption with the department so that there will be no complication when the children are old enough for school or a MyKad.

“Usually, the department will confirm the adoption and refer the matter to the National Registration Department to complete the procedures,” he said.

Chong also said he had been inundated with calls from NGOs demanding that police investigate whether the children were victims of human trafficking following newspaper reports on the case on Wednesday.

It was reported that the wife of the 25-year-old man, whom she referred to as her “boyfriend” because they were not legally married, had lodged a report against the man at the Serendah police station on Dec 23.

News

Thursday January 17, 2013

Lorry driver did not sell his children, cops confirm

By FARIK ZOLKEPLI and EILEEN NG newsdesk@thestar.com.my

By FARIK ZOLKEPLI and EILEEN NG
newsdesk@thestar.com.my