KUALA LUMPUR – Rumah Bonda founder Siti Bainun Ahd Razali’s 12-year jail sentence remains after high court judge Datuk Noorin Badaruddin today rejected her appeal against her conviction of abuse and neglect of a teenager with Down’s syndrome, known as Bella, three years ago.
Following today’s verdict, Siti Bainun will remain in jail in Kajang women’s prison.
Judge Datuk Noorin Badaruddin, in delivering her verdict, said that the sessions court had not erred in convicting and sentencing Siti Bainun last year for abusing and neglecting Bella.
She also said that there are no reasons to “disturb” the session court’s decision as the verdict is complete.
“The court finds that the sessions court judge did not err in its findings in concluding that, based on all the evidence presented, the appellant was responsible for the physical and emotional injuries inflicted on the victim,” she said.
In her judgement, judge Noorin said that the court found 18 injuries and scars on the victim’s body, proven by all the medical witnesses that they were not accidental or self-inflicted.
“The court is satisfied that the sessions court judge conducted a thorough assessment of the prosecution witnesses, including eyewitness Yasmin Nahar Mahmood (a former resident of Rumah Bonda), who testified as the fifth prosecution witness (PW5), supported by expert medical witnesses who examined the victim.”
Besides the testimony of PW5, the testimony of PW8, Suhana Zam (a close friend of Siti Bainun), was also supported by medical evidence consistently indicating that the injuries sustained by the victim were not accidental, according to judge Noorin.
Therefore, she said, the court found it difficult to conclude that both witnesses fabricated their stories against the appellant.
The victim was a special needs child, Judge Noorin said, and the testimony of the prosecution witnesses as a whole completes the prosecution’s narrative that the victim was neglected and abused, resulting in physical and emotional injuries.
She added that the court found the appellant’s defence, claiming that the victim suffered only one scalding, to be inconsistent with the narrative and evidence presented by the prosecution.
She said that expert witnesses stated that examinations of the victim revealed that the injuries had occurred at different times because some of them had healed.
The judge added that the testimony provided by these expert witnesses was consistent, whereas the appellant’s and defence witnesses’ accounts of a single hot water spillage were contradictory.
“The court found that nearly all the reasons given by the appellant in her petition were repetitions of issues raised during the sessions court trial.
“The court finds that the issues raised by the appellant and her defence could not raise reasonable doubt about the essence of the charges against her,” the judge said.
She, therefore, upheld the sessions court’s conviction and sentence against Siti Bainun, which includes a 12-year jail term, a good behaviour bond for five years with one surety, RM5,000 collateral, as well as 20 aggregate hours of community service to be served within six months after her jail term ends.
Sessions court judge Izralizam Sanusi had previously convicted Siti Bainun on May 3, last year, after finding her guilty for abusing and neglecting Bella in 2020.
She was charged in August 2021 with two counts of abusing and neglecting Bella, which resulted in physical and emotional distress for the teenage girl.
She was accused of committing the offence between February and June 2021 at a condominium in Wangsa Maju. She was charged under Section 3(1)(a) of the Child Act 2001, which carries a maximum jail term of 20 years, a fine of RM50,000, or both upon conviction.
On the day of the session court’s verdict, he also dismissed Siti Bainun’s application for a stay of sentence execution, saying there were no special circumstances that would permit such a request. – May 2, 2024
