PETALING JAYA, May 19 — With the disappearance of three-year-old Low Min You in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah last Friday still unresolved, parents should realise how important it is to not leave a child unattended even for a few minutes.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nancy Shukri said parents should never leave their children unattended at home or in the car.

“Parents should learn the lesson from other cases even if there is no law forbidding them from doing so,” she said.

She said parents should be alert at all times and that both father and mother should find a way to share the responsibility.

“In some cases, only the mother takes charge of the child’s well-being and needs,” she said.

“It is unfair for the mother to take on the role alone and fulfil her duties as an employee if she also contributes to the household income.”

Nancy said some aspects that needed to be enhanced were parents’ awareness and attitude towards their children’s safety.

“Parents are still careless with their children. It breaks my heart to read about all these tragic cases because these incidents can be prevented,” she said.

“Though I strongly believe it is cruel to go after parents when they lose a child, enforcing the law may be the only way to make them take heed of their children’s safety and well-being.”

Min You’s father had left him asleep in the back of his four-wheel drive with the engine running at a petrol station in Kampung Air at 5.50am on May 9 and gone to use the toilet.

When he returned, he discovered his vehicle gone. He managed to trace it several hours later but the toddler was nowhere to be found.

Nancy pointed out that the absence of prosecution in any case was likely due to lack of evidence to prove that the parents had intentionally neglected the child.

She said prescribing to the standards of “reason” had always been difficult for the public prosecutor as it is never easy to draw the line between negligence which could result in criminal prosecution.

“This is where the dilemma comes in. The authorities are in a difficult position – to charge or not to charge?” she said.

“However, I believe stricter laws are a sure-fire way to knock some sense into some parents nowadays.”