15-Year-Old Muhammad Firdaus Dullah Found In An Extremely Sorry State In Taman Semarak

The mother of a 15-year-old handicapped boy who was found neglected and malnourished at a flats unit in Taman Semarak here was detained by police for investigations. Nilai police chief Supt Abdullah Roning said the 40-year-old woman, a food catering company staff, was remanded to assist in the probe for allegedly neglecting a child under her care under Section 31 of the Child Act.

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It is learnt that the woman, who also has another son aged six, had re-married after divorcing her first husband. However, she was left to manage both her sons on her own as her current husband was not living with her.

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With the mother of the 15-year-old neglected special needs boy having been remanded by police last night, the former babysitter of the child is willing to adopt the boy as her own.

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“Since I have been taking care of him close to eight years, I’m willing to adopt him as my own if the mother is not able to take care of him,” Norfitri said when met at HTJS today.

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This photograph of Muhammad Firdaus, taken some years ago, courtesy of the Negeri Sembilan Immigration Department, shows how much better he looked before going through the ordeal of having been locked up in inhumane conditions.

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The mother of the emaciated 15-year-old found home alone, covered in filth and dressed in a tattered T-shirt has refuted claims of child neglect, saying she did not know how to get aid from the Welfare Department.

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She also said her son had a habit of biting his clothes, denying she abused him.

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A woman, who claimed to have once babysat the severely malnourished and disabled teenager who was found living in filth at a flat unit in Nilai on Saturday, was shocked when she visited the boy at the Tuanku Jaafar Hospital here.

Her voice choking with emotion, Norfitri Radius, 42, said: “I took care of him for eight years from 2004 and he was a lot healthier then. “He could stand up and utter a few words,” she said, adding that she moved to Gemencheh after getting married in 2012.

Norfitri said she did not believe that the mother would abuse Muhammad Firdaus. “She has a lot of problems and suffered a miscarriage recently,” said Norfitri, adding that she was prepared to look after the boy again.

An Immigration team conducting checks to weed out illegals walked into a shocking sight at a block of flats in Taman Semarak near here – a severely malnourished and physically handicapped teenager locked in a unit.

The 15-year-old boy is believed to be mentally challenged. The officers themselves were stunned. “Oh God! This is so cruel,” said the officer who stumbled upon the boy. The room was littered with broken polysterene boxes. While there was a wheelchair in the room, the teen could only move on his buttocks and could not use his legs.

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State Immigration director Faizal Fazri Othman said investigations revealed the teenager’s name was Muhammad Firdaus Dullah and that he was of Bajau descent.

“When my officers found him, he only had a torn, soiled t-shirt on and his entire body was covered in faeces and urine. He was incredibly thin and we could see all the bones in his emaciated frame,” he said, adding that the teenager was also unable to stand or sit on his own.

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“The entire unit was also full of filth with used polystyrene packs scattered all over the place,” he said, adding that his officers managed to find the teenager’s birth certificate in the unit.

State Immigration director Faizal Fazri Othman said his officers managed to contact the teenager’s 39-year-old mother and that the case had been referred to the Welfare Department. “We believe that the mother was employed as a helper at an eatery in Sepang."

Its minister, Datuk Seri Rohani Abdul Karim, said if it was proven there were elements of neglect pertaining to the boy - believed to be suffering from cerebral palsy - he would be placed in a shelter run by the welfare department.

"He and his mother are from Sabah. His parents have divorced. However, his mother has denied he was confined and neglected. We will give serious attention to the welfare of the boy," she said in a statement.

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Negri Sembilan’s women, family and community development exco Datuk Norhayati Omar said preliminary medical tests performed on the boy showed he was fine. “However, doctors are trying to establish why he has lost so much weight and is malnourished,” she said, adding that Muhammad Firdaus was also given a hair cut and bath when he was brought to the hospital.

A state welfare department official said the boy would be sent to one of its homes where his condition would be monitored for 30 days. “We will only decide on the next course of action after we complete the investigations,” said the official.