2007 03: Three-year-old boy dies of suspected child abuse

The Sun online. Local news. Fri, 09 Mar 2007

SUNGAI PETANI (March 9, 2007): A three-year-old boy believed to be a victim of child abuse, died in the Sultan Abdul Halim Hospital here today.

Syahimi A. Saleem died at 7.30am shortly after he was brought to the hospital.

Kuala Muda police chief ACP Hashim Ali said Syahimi had injuries on his head, several parts of his body were bruised and swollen and also burnt marks believed to be caused by lighted cigarette butts.

A post-mortem conducted by Alor Star Hospital pathologist Dr Suhani Mat Noor found the boy’s spine and some internal organs damaged, Hashim said when contacted today, reports Bernama.

He said Syahimi was brought to the hospital by his 32-year-old father and his 34-year-old girlfriend after finding the child to be not breathing when woken up at 7am.

The duo and another woman, aged 29, who is the younger sister of the father’s girlfriend, were detained to assist in investigations.

Hashim said the boy’s parents divorced some years back and that he and his elder sister, four, had come from Ipoh where they are curently living with their father, to visit his girlfriend who lives in Bedong, a week ago.

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Suspected child abuse victims warded
The Star online. News. Nation. Monday March 12, 2007

SUNGAI PETANI: Three young children have been admitted to the Sultan Abdul Halim Hospital here after police detected signs of possible child abuse.

All three lived in the same house as Syahimi A. Saleem, three, who died of head injuries on Friday. One of them was Syahimi’s four-year-old sister who was found with bruises on her body.

The two other children, a five-month-old infant and a two-year-old, were running a fever. They are the daughters of his father’s live-in lover.

All four children lived at the girlfriend’s house in Taman Permai Bestari.

Police have obtained a court order to detain a 32-year-old contract worker and his 34-year-old girlfriend until March 19.