Unemployed Woman Fined RM2,000 For Abandoning Newborn Baby

MACHANG, An unemployed woman was fined RM2,000 by the Magistrate's Court here today for abandoning a newborn baby boy, still with the umbilical cord attached, behind a house in Kampung Sungai Bedal, Temangan, three weeks ago. Magistrate Amal Razin Alias handed down the sentence to Siti Nabila, 22, after she pleaded guilty to committing the offence and also ordered the accused to serve four months in prison if she failed to pay the fine. The accused paid the fine. According to the charge, Siti Nabila, as the mother of the one-day-old baby, was accused of abandoning the child with the intention to dispose of him behind an unnumbered house in Kampung Sungai Bedal at 6 pm on Sept 7. She was charged under Section 317 of the Penal Code for concealing the birth with the intent to abandon, which provides for imprisonment of up to seven years or a fine, or both, if convicted. The prosecution was handled by Deputy Public Prosecutor Siti Aisya Nai'lah Harizan, while the accused was unrepresented. Source: BERNAMA News Agency