16-month-old baby beaten to death by step-grandmother
JOHOR BARU: A 16-month-old girl died after she was beaten and stomped on by her step-grandmother, who had cared for her since birth in Kota Tinggi.
In a tragic case in Johor, a 16-month-old girl died after suffering severe abuse at the hands of her step-grandmother. The child, born out of wedlock, had been cared for by the 39-year-old woman since birth. Her 18-year-old mother was attending a vocational college in Johor. The grandmother, along with the girl's mother and step-grandfather, lived together in Taman Sri Saujana, Kota Tinggi.
The step-grandmother reported the infant unresponsive to police on July 31, claiming they were unable to rouse her. Medical professionals performed CPR but could not revive the baby, who was pronounced dead at 10:30 AM that day. Initially, the case was classified under neglect under Section 31(1)(a) of the Child Act 2001, but a post-mortem revealed she had died from blunt-force trauma to the abdomen and chest, along with other wounds consistent with abuse.
The investigation was then reclassified under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder, and the step-grandmother, her husband, and the girl's mother were arrested. None of the suspects had prior criminal records, and drug tests returned negative results. All three were held in custody from August 2 until the next day. The prosecution office received the completed investigation papers and instructed to charge the step-grandmother with murder in the Kota Tinggi Magistrate's Court the following day, alongside the step-grandfather and mother as prosecution witnesses.
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