MB: Granny likely to care for abused girl
SUNGAI PETANI: The four-yearold girl who was allegedly abused by her mother and her boyfriend will most likely be handed over to her grandmother once she recovers.
Kedah Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Bashah Md Hanipah, who visited the girl at the Sultan Abdul Halim Hospital here yesterday, said the girl was recovering well.
He said the girl’s grandmother was expected to take custody of her after she had been discharged.
“The girl used to stay with the grandmother in Sungai Lalang before she was taken back by her mother.
“The Welfare Department will provide them counselling if required,” he added.
The girl’s condition has improved since she was warded on Thursday morning with severe facial wounds, a broken collarbone and bruises after she was rescued from the Paya Nahu flat here.
It is believed that her grandmother, in her 60s, visited the girl at the hospital and received her twoyear-old brother’s body from the hospital mortuary last Friday for burial at the Kampung Pinang Dalam Muslim Cemetery in Sungai Lalang near here.
The decomposed body was found inside a cooler box at the third floor flat where their 26-year-old mother lived with the 34-year-old man.
The couple, both of whom tested positive for amphetamines, are under remand until Wednesday to facilitate investigations.
When visiting the flat earlier, Ahmad Bashah said five steps would be taken to solve social problems through the National Blue Ocean Strategy (NBOS) approach.
“We will set up a police booth for the neighbourhood and the Welfare Department has been told to identify families that needed help.
“The Islamic Religious Department will reach out to residents and host educational programmes,” he said, adding that the other steps involved eradicating the place of drug addicts and increasing community programmes there.
Ahmad Bashah said an estimated 6,000 to 8,000 people lived in the 2,000-odd low-cost flat units there.
“Some of the residents here are not the original owners.
“A lot of them are squatting here, and some have even illegally connected electrical and water supplies to their homes,” he added.
Kuala Muda OCPD Asst Comm Md Zukir Md Isa accompanied the mentri besar.
At about 2am last Thursday, police went to the flat after receiving a report of a quarrel and discovered the body inside the cooler box in the bedroom.
The mother told the police her boyfriend beat the boy to death on Nov 9.