Mother, boyfriend charged with abandoning child

IPOH: A mother and her boyfriend have claimed trial at the Sessions Court here to a charge of abandoning her son.

The accused, a 23-year-old woman and 26-year-old S. Uthayakumar pleaded not guilty after the charges against them were read together in Tamil before Judge Ainul Shahrin Mohamad at the court on Tuesday (Aug 8).

Both allegedly committed the offence at a flat in Taman Menglembu Impiana Adril around 4.30pm on Aug 2.

The offence that both allegedly committed led to a four-year-old boy being injured.

Both accused were charged under Section 31(1)(a) of the Child Act 2001 (Act 611) which provides for a fine of up to RM50,000, a maximum 20-year jail term or both if convicted.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Evangelin Simon Silvaraj requested for bail to be set at RM15,000 for each of the accused.

In response, the counsel for both accused – Kelvin Francis – said that his clients request for lower bail due to current hardships.

“Uthayakumar is suffering from nerve problems and has recently been offered a job as a store assistant,” said Kelvin.

“He is in the midst of a divorce and has three children from his previous marriage,” he added, saying that Uthayakumar’s highest educational background is the Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR) exam.

Kelvin then said that the woman is suffering from asthma.

“She is recently divorced with a child and only works as a cleaner. Uthayakumar’s mother is here in the court and told me that she only has RM3,000 to bail my clients,” he said.

“His mother only earns RM1,600 and takes care of five other children. She is also taking care of her own mother who has asthma and fibroids.

“Uthayakumar’s father only works as a lorry driver assistant earning just RM1,700 and recently underwent heart surgery,” added Kelvin.

Ainul Shahrin set bail at RM6,000 for each accused with a surety. She also fixed Oct 2 for the case mention.