KUALA LUMPUR: The Sessions Court here found Rumah Bonda founder Siti Bainun Ahd Razali guilty of abusing and neglecting one of her adopted daughters, who is also a teenager with Down's Syndrome.
Judge Izralizam Sanusi, who read out his verdict at 10am, said Siti Bainun was guilty of neglecting and abusing teenager Bella to a point that she suffered physical and emotional damage.
He found that Bella suffered from emotional damage after having shown symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) after she was put under Siti Bainun's care.
He also rejected Siti Bainun's testimony given at the defence stage where she testified that Bella's physical injuries were because of spilled hot water, after finding that her statement was hearsay as she was not at home when the incident occurred.
"Siti Bainun did not see the incident occur and she had also testified that it was told to her, by Yasmin, who said the incident involved Bella and two other individuals named Balqis and Aida.
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"This incident was then denied by Yasmin during her testimony as a prosecution witness, and Bella had never confirmed the said incident despite being called to testify.
"Meanwhile, both Balqis and Aida have been offered to be called as Siti Bainun's witness. However, they were never called to testify," he said.
He also found that Siti Bainun made up false stories about the incident of the spilled hot water as he deduced that the incident had never occurred, from the accused's testimonies.
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"The 'spilled hot water' incident occurred between May 6 to 9, in 2021. However, Siti Bainun had only brought Bella to a clinic is Setapak a month after the incident, which is on June 2 the same year.
"Having brought Bella to the clinic after a month from the date of the serious incident is illogical. My findings show that the incident, involving spilled hot water had never occurred".
He said it was illogical that Bella's injuries – burnt wounds and multiple scars that are apparent on her body – were from spilled hot water.
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"If an open thermos fell onto Bella's body and spilled hot water all over her, logically, it will cause burn injuries on some parts of the body instead of almost her whole body, as proven by witnesses and experts testimonies, that said Bella's injuries caused by a single incident is illogical and should be rejected.
"Meanwhile, doctors that have testified as prosecution witnesses confirmed that the injuries on Bella's body was not caused by a single incident, and instead caused from several incidents that occurred over different times.
"The accused, however, had never submitted any testimony that denies this".
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He said the accused also agreed and never denied that some scars on Bella's body had been there before the spilled hot water incident that occurred in May.
He therefore found that Siti Bainun's defence cannot be trusted and cannot be accepted by the court, and that a reasonable doubt had failed to be raised against the prosecution case at the end of defence stage and sentenced the 31-year-old founder under Section 31(1)(a) of the Child Act 2001.