JOHOR BARU: A 28-year-old woman pleaded guilty at the Sessions Court here to two charges of negligence involving physical injuries to two babies at a childcare centre in Taman Mutiara Rini here.
Nurul Shahira A’shiqin Sulaiman made the plea after the charges were read to her in front of Judge Datuk Che Wan Zaidi Che Wan Ibrahim on Sunday (May 12).
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According to the charge sheets, the accused had acted negligently and this might have caused physical injuries to an 11-month-old female baby and a nine-month-old male baby.
The offence was conducted at Jalan Utama 34 at Taman Mutiara Rini, Johor Baru at about 1pm in March of this year.
The act is an offence under Section 31(1)(a) of the Child Act 2001, which carries a maximum jail sentence of 20 years, a fine of up to RM50,000 or both upon conviction.
The case was prosecuted by deputy public prosecutor Nurul Syafiqah Sha'ari, while the accused was represented by Syufri A. Samad.
During proceedings, Nurul Syafiqah had requested another date to be set for the sentence hearing and mitigation.
She also requested bail be set at RM15,000 for each charge, along with additional terms for the accused to hand over her international passport to the court, to not disturb any witnesses or victims and to report to the nearest police station until the case is over.
In response to this, Syufri requested for a lower bail as the accused only earns about RM1,500 per month and is taking care of her elderly parents.
“Her husband works as a factory operator and only earns about RM2,000,” he said, adding that the accused has worked as a babysitter for four years.
The court then granted bail at RM8,000 for each charge with one surety along with the additional terms.
The court also set August 2 for the case's remention
Earlier, Johor police chief Comm Datuk Kamarul Zaman Mamat informed that the woman was arrested in Bandar Selesa Jaya, Skudai at around 2am on Tuesday.
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He said that the woman's treatment of an 11-month-old baby girl and a nine-month-old baby boy were recorded in two video clips; one is 48 seconds long and the other runs for 39 seconds.
“The videos made the rounds on social media, which led the police to investigate the matter on Monday (May 15),” he said in a statement.
In one of the videos, a woman believed to be the suspect was seen screaming, spitting, and hitting a crying infant.
In another clip, she was seen handling the infant roughly as the baby cried loudly.
