BUTTERWORTH, Jan 18 — Police said the abandoned seven-year-old girl rescued from a flat in Tasek Gelugor, Penang, weighed slightly over 7kg.

She remains traumatised and weak,” said North Seberang Prai police chief ACP Abdul Rahman Ibrahim yesterday, adding she had little to eat over the past two weeks.

“She is seven-years old and she is not supposed to weigh that low,” he said.

Abdul Rahman said the girl was receiving treatment at the Seberang Jaya Hospital and was unable to eat solid food.

“A specialist is attending to her and the investigating officer (Insp Hasmah Mustappa Ramdzan) who found her, is staying by her side at the hospital,” he said.

“She is on a soft diet.”

Abdul Rahman said the girl needed special attention to overcome her trauma.

“She needs a lot of love and care, and she also needs to be pampered,” he said.

“Hasmah said she was disheartened when she saw the girl’s condition. She was unable to control her emotions when she saw the girl,” he said.

An undated picture of the girl found starved at a flat in Tasek Gelugor, January 18, 2015. — file pic

Abdul Rahman said police had not recorded the victim’s full statement and they were waiting for the medical report.

He said the girl would be handed over to the Welfare Department when she gets discharged from the hospital.

She was rescued last Thursday from a flat in Sungai Dua, Tasek Gelugor, at about 7.15pm after her teacher lodged a police report earlier in the day.

The child had not attended school since Monday, but her father had collected the RM100 aid meant for pupils on the same day.

Abdul Rahman said the girl’s 34-year-old father, a petrol station pump attendant, was remanded until tomorrow.

He said police had not been able to trace the victim’s mother, an Indonesian, whom they believed had returned to her country of origin.

Police will record the statement from the girl’s stepmother. Police were, however, uncertain whether the woman, in her 30s, was involved, as investigations were ongoing.

“We will record statements from other people including the victim’s neighbours,” he said.

Women, Family and Community Development deputy minister Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun said the ministry, through the Social Welfare Department, will look into the case.

“If the court issues an order, the girl will be placed at a shelter home,” she said.