PETALING JAYA: A former resident of Rumah Bonda told the Kuala Lumpur sessions court today how she was ordered by the welfare home’s founder Siti Bainun Ahd Razali to bite the stomach of Bella, a teenage girl suffering from Down Syndrome.
Yasmin Nahar Mahmood, 19, who was the fifth prosecution witness, said she was instructed to do so because the girl did not follow Siti’s instructions to stand in the laundry section of a condominium unit in Wangsa Maju.
“This made Siti angry and she instructed me to fill a syringe with hot water and splash it on her. However, Bella did not appear to be in pain because of the hot water, making Siti angrier.
“Siti then ordered me to bite Bella,” the witness said.
Yasmin said this when questioned by deputy public prosecutor Zilfinaz Abbas.
She then recalled the day when Siti’s friend, “Mommy” Zurianty Sudin, came to the apartment on June 24. According to Yasmin, the visitor cried when she saw Bella having physical injuries, scars, and also appeared very thin.
“We gave the excuse that Bella did not want to eat, threw her food away, didn’t want to bathe, was naughty, aggressive, and didn’t want to listen to instructions,” she said.
Yasmin said Siti had instructed her by phone to teach Bella to lie that nobody had beaten her if anyone asked about her injuries. Siti told Yasmin to teach Bella to say the injuries were self-inflicted.
However, Yasmin said they were unable to instruct Bella properly as by then Zurianty had already called for an ambulance to take Bella for treatment.
Siti Bainun, 30, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of abandonment and abusing a 13-year-old girl with Down Syndrome, resulting in the victim sustaining physical and emotional injuries at a condo unit in Wangsa Maju here between February and June 2021.
She was charged under Section 31(1)(a) of the Child Act 2001, which is punishable with a maximum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment or a RM50,000 fine, or both.
The trial before Judge Izralizam Sanusi resumes next Wednesday.
