KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 15 — The 15-year-old girl who was raped and gave birth to a son who later died from stab wounds was today charged with murder at the Magistrates Court in Kemaman, Terengganu.
Magistrate Tengku Eliana Kamaruzaman rejected the girl’s plea for bail, her lawyer Nurainie Haziqah told Malay Mail.
Murder, an offence under Section 302 of the Penal Code, is non-bailable. But Nurainie said Section 388 of the Criminal Procedure Code allows for exceptions to be made if the person charged is either sick, a minor and a female.
“We had also submitted that this case is of great public interest and is widely reported by the media. The court could have set a (good) precedent,” she said.
“But the bail was rejected. No reasoning given,” the lawyer added.
National news agency Bernama reported that no plea, whether innocent or guilty, was recorded from the accused at this point as murder charges fall under the jurisdiction of the High Court.
The teen’s case has drawn strong public interest.
The Sarawak Women for Women Society yesterday called for the authorities to rethink the way it investigates cases involving young mothers who end their child’s life under distress.
The group said these cases should be categorised as infanticide and not murder, taking take into account the condition that had led the distress the mother to commit the desperate act.
The statement came in support of the reminder by the Parliamentary Special Select Committee for Women, Children and Social Development that when a mother appears to have ended her child’s life within 24 hours after birth, she should be charged with infanticide and not murder and have access to legal and psychological support.
The PSSC statement was issued after news reports emerged that a 15-year-old girl in Terengganu who had just given birth to an infant conceived through rape was swiftly removed from hospital to lock-up as she had allegedly stabbed the child.
Its chairwoman Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said said all children in conflict with the law in Malaysia be accorded free legal representation, from the point of detention until the completion of the criminal justice process so the children are fully protected.
