KAJANG: The Sessions Court here today postponed the sentencing of a pregnant child care centre employee, who had pleaded guilty to physically hurting a toddler.
Judge Mazuliana Abdul Rashid allowed the application by defence lawyer S. Priyalatha after hearing that the accused, Nor A'in Ismail, 24, was due to deliver her first child next week.
"We hope to be given a date for sentencing after her delivery and confinement.
"She is under bail and she will not abscond as she is in court today.
"She will give her cooperation until the case concludes," she said.
Deputy public prosecutor Faelly Jeffrey Lanjungan did not object to it based on humanitarian grounds and the circumstances of the accused.
During the proceedings, Mazuliana asked Nor A'in if she maintained her guilty plea.
To this, Nor A'in said, "Yes. I maintain it".
The court set Sept 24 for sentencing.
On June 6, Nor A'in pleaded guilty to a charge framed under Section 31 (1)(a) of the Child Act 2001.
She was accused of deliberately exposing the 17-month-old child, who was under her care, in a way that could cause physical hurt.
She committed the offence at 4.15pm on May 28 at the child care centre in Bandar Mahkota Cheras.
It carries a maximum fine of RM50,000 or jail not more than 20 years or both.
Section 31(2) of the Act stipulated that the court, shall, in addition to any punishment specified in subsection (1), order the person convicted of an offence to execute a bond with sureties to be of good behaviour for such period as the court thinks fit and to perform community service.
On June 3, a mother claimed her toddler was not only force-fed but also had her hair pulled by a babysitter at a privately-run childcare centre in Bandar Mahkota Cheras.
The mother, 32, said she discovered her daughter had been abused when she received video recordings and pictures of the alleged incident via the WhatsApp application from a former employee of the centre on May 28.
She was told that other children sent to the centre had also suffered similar ordeals.
"In the recording, a woman, believed to be the babysitter, can be seen forcefully stuffing food into my child's mouth, causing her to cry.
"What is more shocking is that the former employee claimed that the babysitter also pulled my child's hair until it was torn off," she said.