PETALING JAYA, Dec 24 — Children who were victims of crime dominated the headlines, as the public poured over the grim details and wondered if the safety of the young was being increasingly compromised.
Six-year-old girl tortured with pliers, spanners and screwdrivers
A six-year-old girl was found by a motorist waving helplessly at passing cars at 3.40am on Oct 9 in front of a fire station in Jalan Air Jerneh, Setapak.
The girl was rescued by Yusri Abdul Halim, 42, who lived around the area.
A horrific tale of violence and sexual abuse then emerged, with the scars and fresh wounds on the girl’s body bearing testimony to the horror she had gone through.
Investigations revealed girl was believed to have been physically and sexually abused with pliers, spanners and screwdrivers.
She had several scars on her nose, forehead and lips, and old scars all over her body. A medical report suggested she had been abused over the previous six months.
The case sparked widespread concern, police believe she was not dumped on the street by her parents but had run away from home instead.
On Oct 21 a woman — claiming to be the mother — and a guardian had gone to the Bukit Aman police headquarters and surrendered.
On Oct 22, police established the father as the prime suspect in the case and launched efforts to track him.
The mother and one of the guardians were charged in a magistrate’s court with abandonment of the girl. They were sentenced to a week’s jail and fined RM1,800.
The search for the father meanwhile continues.
Three-year-old girl dies of heat stroke after being left alone in car for five hours
Nawal Iris Samsudin was left alone by her mother, a teacher, at a car park of a secondary school in Subang Jaya.
She was asleep in the back seat, with the engine off and all the windows shut, from 11am to 5pm.
The mother, Nor Zatusy Hazwa Abdul Rahim, found Nawal Iris’ lifeless body when she returned to the car to go home.
The mother was supposed to have sent her daughter to a childcare centre before going to school, but forgot to do so.
A post-mortem report confirmed the girl died due to heat stroke.
Shocking revelations emerged in investigations when the mother was reported to have left the victim unattended in the school yard on many occasions.
The case was investigated under Section 33 of the Child Act 2001 for leaving a child without reasonable supervision.
Baby Freddie kidnapping
On Nov 8, residents of Bangsar was shocked by news of the kidnapping of the toddler named Freddie (pic) by a machete-wielding Asian man who made off with a female accomplice in a white Toyota Camry at about 6pm.
The toddler was snatched from outside his home in Bangsar at around 5.20pm. The mother, Sarah Joseph, 39, chased and tried to save Freddie, but the suspect slashed and injured her.
Twitter and Facebook timelines were ablaze with netizens who sought to smoke out the kidnappers of the 20-month-old boy with rapid dissemination of information.
The next day at 12.30pm, Freddie was found uninjured at Lake Titiwangsa.
The boy was positively identified by a passer-by based on the extensive coverage by the media on the kidnapping.
A 39-year-old Filipino woman and her 53-year-old local boyfriend were arrested on Nov 10. The woman had previously worked for Freddie’s family, however they were released after their alibis checked out.
To date, although police had released the photofit of the suspect, he is still at large.
Botched suicide
On Sept 11, a couple attempted suicide with their two young children by lighting a charcoal stove at bed time in the master bedroom of their second floor apartment in Sri Manja Square, Old Klang Road. The bid failed, and all of them survived.
The next day, they made a second suicide attempt in the apartment. This time, their five-year-old daughter succumbed, but both parents and the seven-year-old son survived.
The parents then took the boy to a river to commit suicide, but they could not find a suitable place.
For the next three days, the family remained in the apartment with their daughter’s body.
On Sept 18, a friend of the mother went to the apartment to check after failing to get her on the phone. At the door step, the seven-year-old told the woman that his sister was dead. The woman alerted the police.
The parents were immediately arrested and the boy was placed under the care of a relative.
Early investigations showed that the family was facing financial problems
On Sept 30 the parents were charged with the murder of their five-year-old daughter.
The disappearance of William Yau
On Jan 16, six-year-old William Yau Zhen Zhong was reported missing in Jalan Putra Mahkota, Putra Heights, when he got out of his parents’ car to look for them in a nearby electrical appliance shop.
Police interviewed more than 20 foreigners around Putra Heights and roped in the K-9 unit to search nearby hills, shop-lots and drains.
Eight days later the search came to a tragic end as police and his parents both confirmed that the body fished out near Sungai Sireh jetty was William.
Post-mortem results confirmed time of death to be about a week before his body was found. However, the results could not establish the cause of death as the body was severely decomposed.
Investigations into William’s death also took a twist as DNA results showed several old scars on his body. Investigations were launched to determine how William got the scars.
William’s family was called in for questioning following allegations that William had been physically abused. Police also interviewed his kindergarten classmates and three relatives in Malacca — including his grandmother — who had allegedly witnessed the boy being beaten by his parents.
On June 19, the Coroner’s Court ruled the boy’s death was due to misadventure. Coroner Mohd Hezri Shaharil said based on testimony of witnesses and evidence produced during the inquest, the court had to rule out foul play, including by the boy’s parents, as the cause of death. However, the coroner did not dismiss elements of negligence that could have led to the boy’s death.
