Abused boy’s kin sought

Biological family’s nod needed before he can be adopted

ALOR SETAR: The state Welfare Department is looking for the family of the five-year-old boy who was allegedly abused by his foster mother, a policewoman.

Its director Zulkiply Ramli said the boy, who is now under the custody of the department, was discharged from Sultanah Bahiyah Hospital yesterday and is being housed at an orphanage in Kepala Batas, Penang.

“His mother, who is in Kuala Lumpur, gave him to a foster family in Selangor when he was only a 45day-old baby and they cared for him till he was four.

“The boy was handed to the policewoman in September 2010. She then applied for legal guardianship with the department in May last year,” he said at his office.

Zulkiply said the boy’s original foster family came to know about the incident through the newspapers and contacted the department to shed some light on his background.

“They said they are willing to take care of him but we need to contact his biological parents first before he can be legally put up for adoption.

“We can only apply for permanent guardianship or hand him over to a legal guardian if we fail to locate his biological parents within a month,” he said.

On Jan 1, a policewoman in her 30s was picked up over the abuse of the boy in Taman Derga Jaya here.

The woman had left the boy in the care of a neighbour when she went to Kelantan to attend to some urgent matters.

The neighbour spotted bruises near the boy’s left eye and his private parts.

He was sent to the hospital for treatment and observation.