KAJANG: A former childcare centre staff cried in the dock after she was sentenced to 14 months in jail by the Sessions Court for physically hurting a toddler aged one year and five months in May.
Judge Mazuliana Abdul Rashid imposed the sentence on Nor A'in Ismail, 24, after she maintained her guilty plea on the charge which was read again to her today.
The court also imposed on Nor A'in a three-year good behaviour bond with a surety of RM2,000 and ordered her to perform 120 hours of community service upon completing the jail sentence.
The teary Nor A'in, who had given birth two months ago, was seen hugging her husband before she was led out of the courtroom to be sent to the Kajang Prison.
In mitigation earlier, lawyer S. Priyalatha asked the court not to imprison Nor A'in as she was still breastfeeding her newborn daughter, who has a hole in the heart.
"The accused is suffering from stage two thyroid cancer and is still under treatment at the Putrajaya Hospital and National Cancer Institute.
"At the time of the incident, she was seven months pregnant and she had mood swings.
"She apologises to the family and promises not to repeat the mistake," she said.
Deputy public prosecutor Faelly Jeffrey Lanjungan asked the court to hand down a heavy punishment on Nor A'in as such cases were rampant in childcare centres and would serve as a reminder to owners to deter similar acts.
"In this case, the victim is a toddler who is unable to speak out and protect herself. There were eyewitnesses to the incident.
"The prosecution wants to pose the question of what if the victim is our own child and treated that way while under the care of a babysitter who is given the trust (to care for the child). How would we feel as parents?" she said.
In June, Nor A'in was charged with deliberately exposing the child, who was under her care, in a way that could cause physical hurt.
https://www.nst.com.my/news/crime-courts/2024/06/1060089/babysitter-plea...
She allegedly committed the offence at about 4.15pm at the child care centre in Bandar Mahkota Cheras on May 28.
The charge under Section 31 (1)(a) of the Child Act 2001 carries a maximum fine of RM50,000 or jail sentence of not more than 20 years or both.
Section 31(2) of the Act stipulates 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.
Nor'Ain was supposed to be sentenced in July but it was postponed until after her delivery and confinement. https://www.nst.com.my/news/crime-courts/2024/07/1071296/court-postpones...
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 centre.
https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2024/06/1058778/woman-alleges-babysit...
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.
The mother previously discovered minor injuries on her daughter's nose and believed it was due to the abuse and lodged a police report.