No excuse for child abuse: Nurul Asyiqin (second from left) and Chua (second from right) being brought to Johor Baru Court Complex before they were sentenced to seven years in jail by the Sessions Court yesterday for abusing and neglecting the former’s seven-year-old son in August this year.
JOHOR BARU: A Sessions Court Judge here could not contain her tears before sentencing a single mother and her female companion to seven years’ jail yesterday for child abuse and neglect.
Nurul Asyiqin Mohamad Zahir, 27, and Singaporean Awiin Chua, 30, pleaded guilty to abusing and neglecting Nurul Asyiqin’s seven-year-old son.
When delivering her judgment, Sessions Court judge VM Mabel Sheela teared up when she thought about how the child suffered a whole month of abuse.
“The bond between a mother and a child is very special. If you (Nurul Asyiqin) asked him whether he wants to follow you, he will surely want to be with you even though he knows he would be in pain.
“The court cannot imagine the victim’s condition if the public did not intervene. He would have surely died,” she said.
In a video that has since gone viral, the boy had been reportedly rescued from the mother’s house by neighbours.
Earlier in her submission, deputy public prosecutor Nur Diyana Zubir said a medical exam found more than 20 physical injuries on the victim’s body.
“The frequency of the abuse every day from July 1 to Aug 9 is based on the presence of old and new wounds as well as scars on the victim’s body.
“The victim was not only beaten but also neglected by being locked in the house alone without food, and the accused did not stop or save the victim when he was beaten,” she added.
Nurul Asyiqin and her housemate, Chua, were first brought to court on Aug 16 and charged with physically injuring her son at a house in Bandar Layangkasa, Pasir Gudang from July 1 until Aug 9.
For the second charge, both Nurul Asyiqin and Chua were accused of having a common intention to neglect the child under their care.
Both accused were charged under Section 31(1)(a) of the Child Act 2001, which was read together with Section 34 of the Penal Code, and which carried a fine of up to RM50,000 or a maximum 20 years’ imprisonment or both upon conviction.
They initially claimed trial to the charges but later pleaded guilty after the charges were read again in front of Mabel Sheela on Sept 27.
She then sentenced Nurul Asyiqin and Chua to seven years each for the two charges but ordered their imprisonment to run concurrently starting from the date of their arrest.
Lawyer Nurhazneena Zureen Jaesleen Mohamad Hanafiah represented the two accused.
