JOHOR BARU: A husband-and-wife pair of babysitters pleaded not guilty at the Sessions Court here for allegedly neglecting a nine-month-old baby girl, which might have led to her death last month.
The accused, Lim Zhen Jie, 31, and Vivian Lau, 29, made the plea after the charge was read to them in Mandarin in front of Sessions Judge Rasidah Roslee here on Tuesday (May 7).
According to the charge sheet, the duo, who were caring for a nine-month-old female baby, acted negligently towards her, which might have resulted in her fatal injury to the head.
The act was allegedly committed at a house in Jalan Kejayaan 25, Taman Universiti, Skudai, Johor Baru, between March 19 and April 25 of this year.
The offence was framed under Section 31(1)(a) of the Child Act 2001, which carries a maximum jail term of 20 years or a fine of up to RM50,000 or both upon conviction.
The case was prosecuted by Deputy Public Prosecutor S. Thiviya, while the two accused were represented by Muhammad Mohd Nasir and Goh Sze Han.
During the proceedings, Thiviya requested bail to be set at RM20,000 for each of the accused with one surety, along with the additional terms for the accused to hand over their international passport to the court.
They are also required to report themselves to the nearest police station once every month and not disturb any witnesses to the case.
Muhammad, in mitigation, requested a lower bail as Lim was the main provider of the two and is also working as a cashier with a monthly salary of RM2,600.
“They also have two children aged five and nine who are still going to school,” he added.
The court then decided bail to be set at RM8,000 for each accused with one surety, along with the additional terms.
The court also set June 6 for the next mention of the case and the submission of the post-mortem report.
On May 1, Johor Baru North OCPD Asst Comm Balveer Singh was reported as saying that five people were arrested over the death of a nine-month-old baby girl who was allegedly abused.
“The arrest includes two foreign women who are friends of the baby’s mother, who is a Vietnamese woman, a local man, and a married couple as they were the victim’s babysitters,” he said in a statement.
The baby girl was pronounced dead at around 3.50am on April 26, and a post-mortem revealed criminal elements leading to her death.
