KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 22 — Rumah Bonda founder Siti Bainun Ahd Razali today told the Sessions Court here that she did not make up the story about the teenage girl with Down syndrome known as Bella being brought to the clinic for treatment.
Siti Bainun, 31, said she took the same approach as other mothers would provide the best treatment for her children, including Bella, if they were sick.
“It depends on whether the level of my child’s pain is ‘bearable’ or not ‘bearable’. If the child needs anything, I will give them depending on the time and situation. If they need me to tell a story...I am always there,” she said during cross-examination by deputy public prosecutor Nor Azizah Mohamad at the defence trial of Siti Bainun who was accused of neglecting and mistreating the 13-year-old teenager.
The accused also agreed with Nor Azizah’s suggestion that she gave equal treatment to all the children in her care.
The woman did not agree with the prosecution that she did not see the doctor when Bella was taken to a clinic in Setapak for treatment.
In the previous proceeding, the 16th prosecution witness, Dr Rashid Khan Khan Mohamad from Setapak Clinic and Surgery told the court that Siti Bainun met him on June 2, 2021, to get medicine for the treatment of hot water wounds.
Meanwhile, Siti Bainun said she felt strange when her good friend Zurianty Sudin forced her to go to the hospital to get treatment for Covid-19 even though she was in good health.
“She (Zurianty) said that if you don’t want to go to the hospital, you will be separated from them (Rumah Bonda residents) in the saddest way. I feel strange because I know she would not care about me and she also did not take any interest on my children’s health,” she said.
Asked by her lawyer, Mohammad Farhan Maaruf regarding Zurianty’s action in giving such a reminder, Siti Bainun said it was probably because the woman wanted to record a video of Bella allegedly being abused while she was not at home.
“I really didn’t think she could go to that level because before that we were okay. We were less in touch only after I had children and my own commitments. In fact, we often had conflicting opinions,” she said.
Siti Bainun was charged with neglecting and mistreating the 13-year-old teenager, causing the victim to suffer physical and emotional injuries in a condominium unit in Wangsa Maju between February and June 2021, under Section 31(1)(a) of the Children’s Act 2001 which carries a maximum of 20 years imprisonment or a fine of RM50,000 or both if convicted.
The trial before Judge Izralizam Sanusi continues tomorrow. — Bernama
