Alleged child abuse: Keningau couple held
Published on: Saturday, April 06, 2024
By: Marutin Ansiung
Photographs of one of the victims (Courtesy of IPD Keningau).
KENINGAU: A couple with criminal records and sold burgers for a living was detained on suspicion of abusing two children aged 5 and 13.
Keningau Police Chief Supt Yampil Anak Garai said the case came to light when a man playing snooker at one of the shops in town was approached by a child selling burgers on Tuesday.
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He was shocked to see wounds on the body of the 13-year-old.
The complainant suspected the lad had been abused and lodged a report, which led to the arrest of the couple from Kg Lingkudau and Kg Kauran, who were renting above a shoplot in town.
They were aged 36 and 27, respectively.
The second victim
“The first and second victims were located in Kg Rompon in Tambunan and Kauran in Keningau.
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“The first victim is the stepson from the wife’s first marriage who was taken care of by the present husband after he (boy’s biological father) was jailed for drugs.
The male suspect took the second victim as his adopted child from the Sinsuran area in Kota Kinabalu.
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The first victim was beaten with a clothes iron by the male suspect four times on the back because he had pocketed money from selling the burgers.
In the second incident, he was hit with a stick on the back and the mother also held the iron on the back of the first victim’s body four times because he came home late.
In the third incident, the mother hit her son with an iron rod four times on the back.
She also poured hot water on the floor and forced him to stand, causing both the lad’s legs to be scalded.
The male suspect also hit the back of the boy with an iron rod.
The second victim was scalded by a hot clothes iron by the female suspect on the left and right hand and back of the body for being slow to open the disposable diaper when he woke up.
On another occasion, the second victim was scalded on the back of the body with a hot spoon for being slow in cleaning up the burger remains.
The male suspect also kicked both of the victim’s legs causing him to fall and hit the floor.
Neighbours harboured suspicions about the victims who had been seen sleeping under the building but were not aware they were abused.
The incidents are believed to happened between March 24 to 30 in their rented room based on the burn marks on the body and the effects of burns on the ears, hands, legs and body of the second victim.
The case was classified under Section 31(1)(a) of the Children Act 2001.
The male suspect had three previous criminal cases under Section 15(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act (ADB) 1952 and one case under Section 12(2) of the same Act.
The wife had one criminal case under Section 15(1)(a) and another case in Section 12(2) of the same Act.
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