Couple who abused niece sentenced to five years in jail

PETALING JAYA: A couple who were paid RM400 a month to look after their two-yearold niece beat her so badly that she had to be hospitalised for three weeks.

Lorry driver Mohd Nasir Abd Majid, 37, and housewife Zarinah Ab Hadhy, 31, were sentenced to five years’ jail after pleading guilty to child abuse in the magistrate’s court here.

“You were supposed to protect the child who was entrusted to you. Because of what you did, a child who was born perfect, has been permanently injured,” magistrate K B Elena Hong Tze Lan said.

The jail term will run from their date of arrest on Dec 18 last year.

The two were charged with abusing their niece, aged two years and nine months, between Oct 14 and Oct 27 last year at an apartment in Damansara Damai here under Section 31 (1) (a) of the Child Act 2001.

Medical tests showed internal bleeding in her brain, a skull fracture, bruises and burn marks on her body.

In her Victim Impact Statement, the girl’s mother, restaurant manager Siti Mazlina Abdul Hadhy, 28, said she was disappointed with her relatives.

“I didn’t know what to think when I first saw her,” a tearful Siti testified, saying she believed her second child, who had also been left with the couple, had been abused as well.

She told the court that the abuse had affected her daughter’s eyesight and balance when walking.

Both accused asked for leniency, saying they had to support three children.

DPP Sapphira Selamat, however, asked for a deterrent sentence, saying they had not shown any remorse.