KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 24 — The lawyers for a teenage girl charged in with the murder of her newborn baby are asking the courts to review an earlier bail request that was rejected by a magistrate in Terengganu.
The girl, who is currently 14-years-and-11-months-old, is legally still a minor, and is said to have been raped before eventually giving birth to a boy who died from stab wounds the day he was born.
Lawyer Sangeet Kaur Deo said her law firm Karpal Singh & Co had been appointed to act on behalf of the child.
The girl was charged with murder of the newborn under Section 302 of the Penal Code at the Magistrates’ Court in Kemaman, Terengganu on February 15.
Offences under Section 302 are non-bailable, but Section 388 of the Criminal Procedure Code allows for exceptions to be made if the person charged is either sick, a minor aged below 16 or a female.
Sangeet told Malay Mail that an application for a review of the bail decision was filed at the High Court yesterday.
“We have filed a revision of the said decision which will be heard by the Kuala Terengganu High Court on 03.03.2022,” she said in a statement.
On February 18, the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) said the murder charge against the girl followed police investigations regarding the February 8 death of the baby born in Kemaman, Terengganu.
The AGC however said the rape incident involving the girl was only made known after her arrest and her police report on February 8, with investigations ongoing on the rape case.
The AGC said the prosecution can still review the murder charge against the girl after taking into account additional developments, such as the future outcome of investigations on the rape incident.
While the punishment upon conviction for a murder offence is death, the AGC had said that the child would be instead ordered to be detained under Section 97(2) of the Child Act if convicted of the murder offence.
