Lorry driver and wife questioned over kids’ adoption

PETALING JAYA: The parents of the three children given up for adoption by their lorry driver father were brought in by police for further questioning.

Hulu Selangor OCPD Supt Norel Azmi Yahya Afendy said their statements were recorded although police had not found any wrongdoing over the father’s action in giving away his children for adoption.

“If there are grounds that it was human trafficking, we will not hesitate to refer the matter to the Deputy Public Prosecutor, but so far there is no need for such action,” he added.

Supt Norel Azmi reitirated that both parents were awaiting a decision by the Kuala Selangor magistrate’s court over the mother’s claim to the children.

“We are probing deeper into the case to clear any misunderstanding or wrong assumptions that the concerned parties might have of the situation,” he said yesterday.

On Thursday, he was reported to have said that the father had already produced all the necessary documents supporting the legal adoption.

Welfare Department Director Nik Omar Rahman had said that a consent letter from the father was sufficient for adoption.

Yesterday, the mother of the children said she had not consented to the adoption of her two sons, aged one and three, and their five-yearold daughter.

“I do not want to give away my children. I gave birth to them, so why would I want to give them away?” a sobbing Liew Kim Yeow, 27, told a press conference organised by MCA Public Complaints and Services Department head Datuk Seri Michael Chong.

The department’s legal adviser James Ee Kah Fuk contended that both parents’ consensus was required for the adoption to be valid.

Ee said that under Section 5 (1) of the Adoption Act 1952, an adoption order shall not be made upon the application of one of two spouses without the consent of the other.

According to Section 5 (1) (a) of the Act, the court may dispense with any consent for adoption, from the parent or guardian, if it is satisfied that the parent had abandoned, neglected or persistently ill-treated the child and that the person who is liable to contribute to the support of the child has persistently neglected or refused to contribute.