Paul Krishnarajah with Mariyammah outside the court.
SEREMBAN: A 39-year-old woman was acquitted and discharged by the High Court here for the alleged murder of her six-year-old daughter.
In acquitting A. Mariyammah, Judge Rohani Ismail said the prosecution had failed to establish a prima facie case against the accused.
The single mother was charged with murdering her daughter at an apartment unit in Senawang near here between 5.30pm and 6.30pm on Sept 5, 2020.
She was charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code, which carries the death penalty or imprisonment of between 30 and 40 years and whipping upon conviction.
“After perusing evidence before the court, I hereby acquit and discharge the accused of the charge without calling for her defence.
“The court finds that the prosecution has failed to establish a prima facie case against the accused,” she said.
According to the facts of the case, the accused, who was then living with her brother and sister-in-law, found the girl unconscious when she returned to the unit.
She then rushed the girl to the Tuanku Ja’afar Hospital, but the victim was pronounced dead by doctors.
A post-mortem found that the victim had been raped and sodomised. There were also old injuries and swellings all over the victim’s body.
The cause of death was blunt trauma to the head and infection of the kidneys.
The court was also told that the accused had abused the victim since 2019.
When met outside the court later, Mariyammah expressed her gratitude to the court and her lawyers.
“I am going to the Welfare Department now to get my two other children, who have been under their care for the past four years,” she said.
