Old Folks' Home Ordered To Close After Video Shows Its Caretaker Beating Up Elderly Woman
Melaka CM Idris Haron claimed that he knew the caretaker personally.
By Sadho Ram — 06 Oct 2016, 03:12 AM
Old folks' homeowner lambasted by Court for his "inhumane act"
Yesterday, Magistrate Analia Kamaruddin lambasted the All Mighty Old Folks Home's owner, identified as M. Michael Seghar, for beating an elderly woman.
Chiding Seghar for his "inhumane act" towards an elderly person, Magistrate Analia reprimanded him for shunning his responsibility of providing care, reported The Star.
"You should realise that you hit a senior citizen who doesn't have the strength to retaliate, and you should be ashamed of yourself," the English daily quoted her as saying.
He was also fined a total of RM4,000 by the Magistrate's Court
M. Michael Seghar was fined a total of RM4,000 by the Magistrate's Court on two charges, namely for causing hurt on a resident and failing to register his shelter.
He pleaded guilty to both charges, for which Magistrate Analia fined Sehgar RM2,000 in default 12 months' jail for causing hurt, and another RM2,000 in default three months' jail for failing to register the centre, reported Malaysiakini.
Previously, Melaka's welfare committee chairman revealed that they knew about the abuse way before the video came out
The issues of abuse at the All Mighty Old Folks Home in Klebang, one of which came to light after a short clip of the caretaker beating up an elderly woman went viral on social media, was already known to the state's women, family development and welfare committee.
According to its chairman Datuk Latipah Omar, there had been previous reports of the old folks' home condition, reported theSun Daily.
"We brought the matter up during our exco meeting and sent our officers to inspect the premises earlier this month. However, we had hoped to solve it internally but with the clip made public, we have to shut the premises down immediately," *theSun Daily quoted her as saying.
The old folks' home has now been shut down following a directive from the Melaka CM.
The Melaka Welfare Department and people from Melaka Hospital have relocated all the residents from the home to a government-managed old folks home in Cheng for about three months. The elderly woman who was seen on video was taken by her family members.
"We hope to locate their next-of-kin within the three months," Datuk Latipah said.
On 5 October, an 11-second clip, shot on mobile, showing a man beating up an elderly woman surfaced on social media pages
The mobile clip was shot inside an old folks' home in Melaka
The place was identified by NST as 'All Mighty Old Folks Home' in Klebang Besar.
According to a report in The Star Online, the caretaker, who was seen in the video assaulting the elderly woman, is aged 56 and denies that he abused senior citizens.
Instead, he alleges that it's an attempt to smear the reputation of the home by a former staff member who had been sacked on 1 October, reported The Star Online.
On Facebook, the short clip went super viral, getting over 118,000 Shares in less than 15 hours at the time of publishing this story
Netizens have strongly condemned the abuse, calling for the man to be put behind bars, who was seen in the video scolding the old woman and then raising his hand to hit her on her head several times, despite the old woman's attempt to shield herself.
Following the widespread condemnation on social media and a police report by a former staff of the old folks' home, Malacca CM Idris Haron, while instructing the Social Welfare Department to investigate this case, claimed that he knew the caretaker personally
He said he never imagined the man would treat elderly people in such harsh manner.
"I want action against the caretaker for doing this to helpless senior citizens," he was quoted as saying by The Star Online.
Meanwhile, according to the police report, the caretaker frequently hit elderly folks in the home and even misused public donations for his own use and sometimes did not give food to the elderly folks. He also sold off items that were donated to the home.
And now the state Welfare Department has ordered the 'All Mighty Old Folks Home' to close within a week, reported The Star Online
Datuk Latipah Omar, Chairman of Malacca's Women, Family Development and Family Committee, said that all 19 occupants would be relocated to other homes.
"We found the home not fit for taking care of elderly folks after meeting with occupants and the caretaker," she was quoted as saying by The Star Online.
CM Idris has also instructed the State Welfare Department to review all private homes to ensure that they comply with govt regulation