PASIR GUDANG: Instead of turning a deaf ear to the distant cry of a child, residents of a housing community here decided to take action.
Bandar Layangkasa community bureau (safety) member Muhammad Aslam Lan said those living near a seven-year-old boy’s house often heard his wails and what sounded like whipping over the past few weeks.
“His neighbours had been hearing sounds indicating that he was being abused. On Saturday night, his next-door neighbour saw through the windows that the boy was being hit and that was when he sounded the alarm.
“The man told me and several other neighbours what he saw. This made us very worried and we could not just leave the matter alone. We decided to head over to the boy’s house to make sure he was okay,” he told The Star.
Muhammad Aslam, 31, said the group of six people knocked on the door to the boy’s house at about 10pm on Saturday to check on the situation.
“The boy was living with his mother and her friend at the rented house. We told them our concerns, including what neighbours had heard and saw.
“We asked them to show us the boy so that we could be at ease knowing that he was not in any kind of trouble. They refused and came out with all kinds of excuses to prevent us from seeing the child.
“We called the police and that was when they reluctantly allowed us to look at the boy,” he said, adding that the group stayed outside the house throughout the whole incident.
Muhammad Aslam said that when the boy was eventually allowed to come closer, they noticed bruise marks on his hands and back.
“The police arrived not long after. We also called an ambulance to rush the boy to a hospital,” he said, adding that two police reports have been filed.
The suspects, the boy’s 27-year-old mother and her friend, a 30-year-old foreign woman, were arrested at about 12.30am yesterday.
Johor police chief Comm Datuk Kamarul Zaman Mamat said police also seized two rotan (canes) from the house.
He said the mother was currently under remand for six days until Aug 17 while her friend was remanded until Aug 18.
The case is being investigated under Section 31(1)(a) of the Child Act 2001 for child abuse.
State women, family and community development committee chairman Khairin Nisa Ismail said the child has been sent to Hospital Sultan Ismail for treatment.
“I was made to understand that the child has only been living with his mother for one year after moving from his grandparents’ home in Kedah,” she said.
