KUCHING, July 17 — The Sessions Court here has sentenced an Indonesian woman to five years’ imprisonment for intentionally taking misoprostol to medically abort her unborn son.

Judge Musli Ab Hamid convicted Nopika, 21, on her guilty plea under Section 315 of the Penal Code for an act done with intent to prevent a child being born alive or to cause it to die after birth.

The Section provides for a jail term of up to 10 years, or a fine, or both upon conviction.

The offence was committed in a bedroom above an eatery at Batu Kawa at around 6am on June 24.

According to the facts of the case, a medical officer attended to Nopika on the night of the incident after she complained of abdominal pain.

She was found to be 27 weeks pregnant.

During the examination, Nopika informed the medical officer that she had taken a pill, believed to have been intended to induce a miscarriage, and showed a photograph of the pill.

The medical officer subsequently lodged a report for reference and further action, which eventually led to her arrest on July 3.

Investigations revealed that Nopika had taken misoprostol, which was obtained without a doctor’s prescription, with the intention of terminating her pregnancy.

As a result of taking the medication, the baby was delivered prematurely and died after five days.

The investigation further found that Nopika’s actions were not carried out on the advice of a doctor or to save her own life as the baby’s mother.

The baby’s body was sent to the Department of Forensic Medicine at Sarawak General Hospital for a post-mortem examination, which concluded that the cause of death was pulmonary haemorrhage with bilateral intraventricular haemorrhage in a premature baby.

In a separate courtroom, Nopika pleaded guilty to having overstayed in the country after the expiry of her social visit pass.

Sessions Court Judge Mursyida Abdul Halim sentenced her to four months’ imprisonment under Section 15(1)(c) of the Immigration Act 1959/63, which is punishable under Section 15(4) of the same Act.

Deputy public prosecutors Asmawi Nur Haqim Mokhtar and Marvind Kaliyani appeared separately for the prosecution, while Nopika was unrepresented by counsel.

The case was investigated by Insp Muhammad Hafizin Harun. — The Borneo Post