5 days ago
Man jailed, wife fined for abusing daughter with durian husk
At the Kuala Lumpur sessions court today, Bunyamin Sukiman and Yorlini Abdullah Umar pleaded guilty to a charge of causing injury to their daughter using a durian husk.
PETALING JAYA : A man has been sentenced to five years in jail, while his wife was fined RM18,000 for abusing their eight-year-old daughter using a durian husk.
The Kuala Lumpur sessions court handed down the sentences after Bunyamin Sukiman, 42, and Yorlini Abdullah Umar, 32, the girl's biological mother, pleaded guilty to causing injury to the child at a house on Jalan Ampang at 6pm on July 16.
Judge Zaki Salleh ordered Bunyamin, the child's stepfather, to begin his sentence from the date of his arrest on July 18, while Yorlini faces three months' jail if she fails to pay the fine.
He also placed both on a three-year good behaviour bond and ordered them to perform 12 months of community service.
According to the facts of the case, the abuse came to light after the assistant head for student affairs at the girl's school called her in over a complaint that she had cut another student's headscarf.
When questioned, the child revealed she had been beaten and punched by her stepfather, and also had her ear twisted by her parents.
The child further disclosed that her hand had been placed on the floor and a durian husk had been dropped onto it. She said that her hand was later soaked in warm salt water and left bandaged with tape overnight.
Deputy public prosecutor Ravindejit Kaur had earlier urged the court to impose a heavy sentence, saying that the abuse was 'extreme and cruel'.
'Parents should be protectors, not people who vent their anger on their children. A harsh sentence is needed to serve as a lesson to society,' she said.
Defence lawyer Simret Singh appealed for leniency, saying that Yorlini was unemployed and dependent on Bunyamin, a car sales adviser.
He added that the couple has two children, including the victim, and had cooperated fully with police throughout their seven-day remand.
