IPOH, July 20 — A 51-year-old babysitter was today charged at the Magistrate’s Court here with murdering a six-month-old girl in Chemor last week.
Tan Wooi Cheng was charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code with killing the infant at a house in Persiaran Klebang 5, Tawas Indah, Chemor between 12am of July 9 and 11am of July 12.
If found guilty, she could be sentenced to death or jailed for a term between 30 and 40 years under Malaysia’s newly amended capital punishment laws.
While Section 302 of the Penal Code also provides for no less than 12 strokes of the cane for those convicted of murder, Tan will be spared the lashes under Section 289 of the Criminal Procedure Code that excludes three categories: women, men above age 50 unless they were convicted of rape and unnatural offences, and men sentenced to death.
However, no plea was recorded from Tan after the charge was read out in Mandarin before Magistrate S. Punitha as the case comes under the jurisdiction of the High Court.
The Magistrate’s Court set October 5 for mention.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Nurul Hidayu Zakaria prosecuted while the accused was represented by lawyers J. Matthews and Fadhlin Fadzli.
Earlier, Matthews told the court that his client suffers from a severe thyroid sickness and asked that she be given suitable medication.
Matthews later told reporters outside the courtroom that his client sincerely sent her condolences to the baby’s family.
