Baby dumping in Malaysia: causes and solutions

14:54, September 14, 2010

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Malaysia is grappling with the rising cases of abandoned babies, "forcing" the Malaysian
police to investigate baby-dumping cases under the Malaysian Penal Code for murder or
attempt murder.

The Malaysian public blame premarital sex on the over-exposure to sexually-liberal western
culture, while the Malaysian government considers including sex education in school
syllabus.

Experts, on the other hand, say the first step to curb the rising trend is to start educating the
young about their choices.

Linda became pregnant when she was just about to graduate from high school.

Not knowing what to do, the 20-year-old was devastated as her parents wanted her
pregnancy to remain a secret.

But later she found the Kewaja Rehabilitation centre, a women's shelter in Kuala Lumpur --
which has now become her temporary home until she is due in October this year.

Pre-marital sex and having a child out of wedlock is deemed deeply shameful in Malaysia -- a
Muslim majority country.

They are not only regarded as a sin, but may also be a punishable crime.

Muslim couples found guilty of fornicating could be fined up to thousands of U.S. dollars,
jailed or caned.

Linda was fortunate to have sought help from a shelter.

But in a society where abortion is prohibited, many girls who share her experience are left
stranded and eventually choose to abandon their babies.
This year alone, the Malaysian police have discovered 65 abandoned infants, most of them
dead by the time they were found.

They were left in rubbish bins, on doorsteps and on the streets, prompting the government
to consider treating these cases as murder or attempted murder.

Dr. Meriam Omar Din, a psychology counsellor at the International Islam University in Kuala
Lumpur believes that cultural stigma that emphasizes abstinence is the main reason why
pregnant girls are so eager to hide their pregnancy.

"What they are doing is against the value of the family. It is like it is a mistake. They become
desperate, perhaps they cannot see the right person who can help them find the solution,"
Meriam said in an interview with Xinhua.

"By the time they star thinking, the baby is out. That is the reason why they would rather
take the risk then to be rejected by the family.

"In our religion, of course having sex (before marriage) is wrong, but throwing away a baby is
worse. So I think throwing a baby is no longer caused by religious factor but cultural factor,"
Meriam added.

She said the society's tendency to blame teenage pregnancy on women rather than men --
could also be a contributing factor to the rising cases of abandoned babies.

"The woman has to make the decision alone, and they do not have anyone to turn to and
the man by then is not there anymore. To them, it is their fault because they are pregnant.
The man does not want to get married with them.

"If the embarrassment is one factor, if the man still stays and is willing to get married, I do
not think they will throw the baby, " said Meriam.

Women's shelters like the Kewaja Rehabilitation Centre are havens for many desperate
young girls who are pregnant, helping them recover psychologically and physically while
equipping them with skills that could get them a job after delivering a child.

These shelters protect them momentarily from relatives and friends.

Meanwhile, religious bodies in Malaysia have also geared up to conduct frequent checks on
dormitories and hotel rooms against illicit sexual activities.

And the Malaysian government is now contemplating on teaching sex education in school --
a much debated move for parents who fear it would promote sexual behaviors at a young
age.

Malaysians are struggling to curb teenage pregnancies and stop more babies from being
abandoned.

It is hard to find the perfect solution that everyone agrees on, but experts are now
suggesting that it is about time that they stop telling young people what not to do, and
instead educating them on how to make the right choices.
Another baby dumping case in Penang

GEORGE TOWN, April 17 — A baby girl, with her umbilical

cord still intact, was found in front of an ironmonger’s shop at Lorong Perak, here today.
Northeast District Police chief ACP Mior Faridalatrash Wahid said they received a call from
the public at 8.10am informing them that a baby was found.

“The baby with the umbilical cord still intact was wrapped in a white cloth and t-shirt. No
injuries were found on the baby’s body.

“The baby weighing 2.1 kilogrammes and with fair skin, was sent to the Penang Hospital for
further treatment,” he said here today.

Yesterday, a man found a baby girl with her umbilical cord intact and wrapped in brown
sweater in front of his house at Kampung Masjid here.

Mior Faridalatrash said police will get closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera recording of
Lorong Perak to identify the suspect involved in the dumping of the baby.

Further investigation is being conducted under Section 31(1)(a) of the Child Act 2001, and
efforts are also made to track the baby’s biological mother.

He urged the public with information about the case to contact the nearest police station to
assist in the investigation.

Meanwhile, Southwest District Police acting chief DSP Siti Norsalawati Saad said the baby
found yesterday at Teluk Kumbar, was still at Penang Hospital under the care of the Social
Welfare Department.

When contacted by Bernama, she said further investigation was still being carried out to
locate the baby’s mother. — Bernama
 Horrified churchgoers discover new-born baby dumped in a drain in Malaysia after
mistaking its cries for a trapped kitten
 People heard the noise coming from a drain so opened cover to rescue it
 Found a new-born baby boy inside plastic bag, covered in its own faeces
 Baby still had umbilical cord attached and was wrapped in a grey shirt
 Taken to hospital and authorities are now trying to identify the parents
By JAMES DUNN FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 04:51 GMT, 12 January 2016 | UPDATED: 11:35 GMT, 12 January 2016
Concerned churchgoers who reported a kitten caught in a drain were horrified when they
discovered it was a new-born baby that had been dumped there in a plastic bag.
The passers-by had returned from a local church service in the township of Bandar Baru
Bangi, in the state of Selangor in Malaysia's West Coast peninsular when they heard the
noise.
Fearing that a kitten had got stuck in the drain, they tried to open it and were shocked to
discover the crying noise was coming from a plastic bag nearby, containing a baby boy.

+1
People from a local church service in Bandar Baru Bangi, in the state of Selangor in Malaysia,
heard a noise which they thought was a kitten, but it turned out to be a new-born baby
Share
The newborn was covered in his own faeces and wrapped in a grey shirt inside the bag.
Local police spokesman, Willey Richard, said the man who had found the baby had initially
thought the cries were coming from inside the drain.
According to the spokesman, he had then seen something moving in a bag next to it and
decided to opened the plastic bag and saw a baby inside.
The baby still had its umbilical cord attached and a police patrol team arrived shortly after to
take the baby to the Kajang Hospital.
Police said the boy is healthy and are calling on the public to help identify and locate the
child’s parents.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3395101/Horrified-churchgoers-

discover-new-born-baby-dumped-drain-Malaysia-mistaken-cried-trapped-
kitten.html#ixzz4CCHwmgJg
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Sunday, 17 January 2016

More than half of 104 dumped babies found dead in 2015

PETALING JAYA: An average of 100 babies were dumped every year, with more than half
dead, according to police statistics.

Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Rohani Abdul Karim said
out of 104 babies dumped last year, 61 were found dead and only 43 alive.

“It shows that more than 50% of the dumped babies did not survive due to the condition of
the dumping place and their fragility,” she said in an email reply toThe Star.

Rohani said statistics showed that the number of cases last year was the highest since 2011
followed by 103 cases in 2014 and 98 in 2011.

“This, however, does not show any significant increase in the trend since 2011 as the total
number is around 100 cases,” she said.

In 2014, 28 babies dumped were found alive while 75 were dead while in 2013, 32 were alive
with 58 dead, she said.

Selangor had the highest number of cases last year with 20 cases followed by Kedah (13
cases) and Johor (12 cases).

Rohani said out-of-wedlock pregnant women and girls were encouraged to seek advice and
counselling through the Childline 15999 – a line for children (including girls) to call and seek
information or to report abuse and neglect.

Rohani said the ministry also fully supported the concept of a “baby hatch” mooted by the
OrphanCare Foundation in 2010 which had helped reduce fatalities among babies being
dumped.

“The existence of such services has provided an alternative choice for mothers instead of
dumping their babies”, she said.

The ministry, through the Department of Social Welfare, had also established Taman Seri
Puteri (TSP) and Pusat Jagaan Sinar Kasih shelter homes which provide protection and care
to pregnant women and girls out-of-wedlock, she said.
Monday, 18 January 2016

Stigma of being born out of wedlock contributes to baby dumping

PETALING JAYA: Rosli (not his real name) has been fighting for the last six years for his
granddaughter’s birth certificate to include her father’s name but without success.

He said his granddaughter, now aged six, was born five months after his son’s marriage, a
month short of the six months cut-off point for a baby’s father’s name to be included in the
birth certificate as required by syariah law.

He said government officers could not help him because the case was considered anak tak
sah taraf(child of unverified status).

“Why do they have to punish the child for the act the parents did?” he asked.

Rosli said his son recently registered his elder daughter and her four-year-old sister at a
kindergarten.

The teacher asked why the father’s name was different from his sister’s.

“Now, the older girl is unhappy and miserable,” Rosli, 65, added.

He said he was also worried when she gets married later, her father could not be
her wali (trustee) at her marriage solemnisation (akad nikah).

Former Sisters in Islam (SIS) executive director Ratna Osman said the case was one of the
reasons that could lead pregnant mothers to give up their babies or dump them.

She pointed out that Section 23 of the Syariah Criminal Offences (Federal Territories) Act
1997 states that any woman who gives birth to a fully developed child within a period of six
months from the date of her marriage shall be deemed to have been pregnant out of
wedlock.

“If a child is born out of wedlock, the child is considered illegitimate as the father’s name
cannot be registered in his or her birth certificate.

“Even if there is a marriage, if the baby is born less than six months from the time of nikah,
the legal father’s name cannot be registered,” she said.

She added that even if the marriage existed, the mother had no right to go to court to
compel the father to pay maintenance if the father refused to pay, according to Section 80
of the Islamic Family Law (Federal Territory) Act 1984.
For the girl, it is even worse because the father cannot be the wali when his daughter gets
married and would have to take a syariah judge as the wali and her future husband and
family members would then know of her background, she said.

Ratna said the lack of sex education was also another reason unwanted pregnancies and
baby dumping were still happening.

WAO advocacy officer (law and policy) Lainey Lau said that patriarchal ideas still prevail and
girls were pressured into marriage when found that they have had sex, rather than being
given the choice to decide for themselves.

“Access to contraception is hindered by an intentional effort to ‘discourage promiscuity’ and

this was a naive view and clearly did not work, as unwanted pregnancies are on the rise,”
she said.