Farah and Muhammad Boken with their lawyer at the Kuching Court Complex lobby. — Photo by Hafizah Abdul Hamid
KUCHING (Aug 18): The Magistrates’ Court here today fined a woman and her boyfriend RM5,000 each in default six months in jail for abusing a five-month-old baby girl.
Judge Afidah Abdul Rahman also ordered the couple be released on a good behaviour bond for two years with one local surety and to undergo 120 hours of community service.
Afidah convicted Farah Hafiezah Rahim, 35, and Muhammad Boken Sikog, 33, on their own guilty plea to a charge framed under Section 31(1)(a) of the Child Act 2001.
According to the facts of the case, the couple had, between June and October last year, abused the victim at a coffee shop in Jalan Batu Kawah.
They were arrested after a police report was lodged by the victim’s mother, who realised there were injuries on the child’s body.
Investigations showed that the baby had injuries to her back, right arm and left wrist, believed to have been caused by pinching and caning with a rotan, broom, and feather duster.
It is understood that the victim was under the care of the couple, who live in the same shophouse premises where the victim’s mother works.
Deputy public prosecutor Nadratun Naim Mohd Saidi prosecuted the case.