Child abuse case: Complaints received from teachers – witness

BUTTERWORTH: A former Senior Assistant of Student Affairs at SK Desa Murni, Sungai Dua, near here, told the Magistrate’s Court yesterday that he had lodged a police report after receiving complaints from several teachers pertaining to a student who looked weak and famished.

Nazri Khalid, 50, who was still working at the school at the time, said the female student was not even able to climb the stairs to her class, and had to ask for support from teachers to carry her up.

“I made a police report on Jan 15 after receiving complaints from some teachers who suspected there was a Standard One pupil who looked very thin and frail,” he said during examinationin-chief by Deputy Public Prosecutor Roslina Idris on the first day of the trial of a father who is charged with abusing his seven-year-old daughter in Sungai Dua.

Nazri, who was the prosecution’s first witness, said after receiving the complaint, the school began investigating the student’s case, and within the same period of time, he also received five complaints from the local community.

“I was also told of the possibility that the child was being confined next to her family’s home,” he added.

On Jan 21, Mohd Shaikful Adli Mohd Afendi, 34, was charged with torturing and exposing the child under his care to physical and emotional trauma in a house in Sungai Dua, Seberang Perai Utara, at 7.23pm on Jan 15.

Mohd Shaikful, who worked as a petrol pump attendant, was charged under Section 31(1)(a) of the Child Act 2001, which carries a fine of up to RM20,000 or jail term of up to 10 years, or both, if convicted.

Nazri also concurred with the accused’s counsel Saiful Ambar Abdullah Ambar, who suggested that he (Nazri) would not have found out about the student’s affairs if he wasn’t informed by the teachers involved.

The hearing before Magistrate Muhammad Firdaus Abdul Wahab will continue on Aug 10 and 11. Bernama