BUKIT MERTAJAM, Sept 21 — Crying tears of joy, 24-year-old Nirmala Thapa walked out of the Sessions Court today a free woman almost a year after she was arrested and convicted for having an illegal abortion.

The unemployed Nepalese migrant was today acquitted and discharged by the sessions court here, which concluded that the prosecution failed to provide sufficient evidence to support its case.

"The court found the prosecution has failed to present a prima facie case so the accused is acquitted and discharged," sessions Court judge M.Vijayalakshmi said when delivering her ruling today, without reading out her grounds for the decision.

Nirmala, dressed in a long-sleeved red blouse, smiled and burst into tears as she hugged and thanked Joint Action Group for Gender Equality (JAG) and Tenaganita members who were in court with her.

"Thank you, thank you," she told her defence counsel E. Gnasegaran and gave him a thank-you card she had been holding earlier.

Gnasegaran said the case will be a precedent as Nirmala is the first person in the country to be charged for having an illegal abortion.

"The court's decision has exonerated her and it is an unprecedented case," he said.

Nirmala had been detained on October 9 last year, then convicted and sentenced to one year's jail on November 12 last year by the same Sessions Court here.

She was convicted under Section 315 of the Penal Code for committing an act to prevent a child from being born alive without the intention of saving her own life as the mother.

After she appealed against the conviction and sentence, the Penang High Court on January 11 quashed the decision and sent it back to the lower courts where she was charged again and went through a long eight-month trial.

Section 315 of the Penal Code provides for up to 10 years jail or a fine or both upon conviction.

She allegedly committed the offense at about 3pm on October 9 last year at Poliklinik Ng in Bukit Mertajam.

Despite the trauma of the case against her, Tenaganita director Aegile Fernandez said Nirmala is keen to stay on in Malaysia to work here.

"Her permit is being renewed on a monthly basis and we will help her to secure a job here. We hope her previous company will reemploy her," she said.

Nirmala, who was previously working in a factory here, lost her job after she was charged with the offense.