5 Suspects Allegedly Used A Metal Rod & Motorbike Stand To Abuse 4-Year-Old To Death
All five, aged between 15 and 37, have been remanded for seven days until 31 December.
By Sadho Ram — 27 Dec 2022, 11:55 AM
A four-year-old boy, who was being treated at the Sultan Ismail Hospital in Johor Bahru since last week, died yesterday, 26 December.
Police believe the boy suffered abuse at the hands of five people.
The boy from Senggarang in Batu Pahat, Johor, was in the hospital since Friday, 23 December.
According to Johor police chief CP Datuk Kamarul Zaman Mamat, a 23-year-old man had called the police on Friday, informing them that the boy had fainted at his house and was taken to a nearby clinic for treatment.
"The victim was under the care of his sister after their parents were jailed for drug offences. The victim was later handed over to the sister's friend for care," he said in a statement today, 27 December.
While police were initially investigating the case under Section 31(1)(a) of the Child Act 2001, they have now been reclassified it as murder
Under Section 31(1)(a) of the Child Act 2001, any person who has in his or her care a child that is being neglected, abandoned, or exposed in a manner likely to cause him/her physical or emotional injury can be fined not exceeding RM20,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years, or both.
Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder carries death as punishment.
Johor police chief CP Datuk Kamarul Zaman Mamat speaking to the media.
Image via Nur Aisyah Mazalan/New Straits TimesPolice have since arrested two men and three women, including the victim's sister. All five are suspected of abusing the four-year-old.
A team from the Batu Pahat police's Criminal Investigations Department apprehended the five suspects, aged between 15 and 37. They were all arrested between 12pm and 9.45pm on Saturday, 24 December.
"We believe they are involved in the incident of abusing the victim which led to the victim's death," Kamarul said, adding that the police also confiscated items suspected of being used to abuse the victim.
Among the items seized are a mobile phone charger, a pillowcase, a bed sheet, a metal rod measuring 29 inches, a clothes hangar, a fan cover, and a motorcycle stand.
All five suspects, including the victim's sister, the sister's friend, and the complainant, have been remanded for seven days from Sunday, 25 December, until 31 December.
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