KUCHING: An Indonesian woman was sentenced to five years in prison by the Sessions Court here today for committing an act that caused the death of her newborn shortly after birth.
Judge Musli Ab Hamid imposed the sentence on 21-year-old Nopika after she pleaded guilty to the charge under Section 315 of the Penal Code.
Section 315 of the Penal Code penalises acts committed with the intention of preventing a child from being born alive or causing it to die after birth.
Under Section 315 of the Penal Code, the offence carries a maximum imprisonment of 10 years, or a fine, or both.
The court heard that at about 6am on June 24, in a bedroom at a cafe near Batu Kawa, the accused consumed a Misoprostol pill with the intention of preventing her baby boy from being born alive.
The act subsequently caused the premature baby to die five days after birth and was not done in good faith to save the mother’s life.
According to the facts of the case, the accused sought treatment at the Sarawak General Hospital’s maternity ward at about 9.05pm on the same day after complaining of abdominal pain while 27 weeks pregnant.
A doctor who examined her was shown a photograph of pills believed to have been used to terminate the pregnancy before lodging a police report for further investigation.
Police investigations found that the accused had obtained and consumed Misoprostol without a doctor’s prescription to induce an abortion.
The baby was delivered prematurely and died five days later.
A post-mortem conducted by a forensic pathologist at Sarawak General Hospital determined that the baby died from pulmonary haemorrhage with bilateral intraventricular haemorrhage in a premature infant.
Investigations further established that the accused’s actions were not carried out on medical advice or to save her life.
Separately, the same accused also pleaded guilty before Judge Mursyida Abd Halim to overstaying in Malaysia after the expiry of her Social Visit Pass.
The court sentenced her to four months’ imprisonment from the date of her arrest on Jul 3 and ordered that she be referred to the Immigration Department of Malaysia upon completion of her sentence.
She was charged under Section 15(1)(c) of the Immigration Act 1959/63, punishable under Section 15(4) of the same Act, for remaining in Malaysia without reasonable cause after her Social Visit Pass had expired.
Investigations found that although the accused possessed a valid travel document, she had continued to stay in Malaysia after the expiry of her immigration pass without reasonable cause.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Asmawi Haqim Mokhtar and Marvin Kaliyani prosecuted the cases while the accused were unrepresented in both cases.
Both of the cases were investigated by Inspector Muhammad Hafizin Harun.
