Baby dumping: MP wants harsher punishment

Leven Woon | FreeMalaysia Today

September 24, 2013

Batu Gajah MP V Sivakumar says the government’s approach in curbing baby dumping was ineffective.

KUALA LUMPUR: Batu Gajah MP V Sivakumar (DAP) today urged the parliament to revise laws pertaining to baby-dumping in order to impose stiffer penalty on the offenders.

He said that under the existing laws, any individual found guilty of dumping a baby is only sentenced to a maximum 10 years’ jail.
“But dumping a baby is a major crime, you are killing a baby.
“Why is it when we kill an adult human being, the punishment is death penalty; but when we kill a baby, the penalty is so light?” he asked at a media conference in the parliament lobby.
He said the law makers should undertake a complete review of Sections 315, 316, 317, and 318 of the Penal Code.

These sections relate to acts done to prevent a child being born alive or to cause it to die after birth, exposure and abandonment of a child under 12 years by parent or person, and concealment of birth by secret disposal of dead body.

Sivakumar also said the statistics provided by the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry through its written reply in parliament on baby dumping cases have shown that the government’s approach in curbing baby dumping was ineffective.
The number of cases from 2009 to 2013 stood at 417: 79 (2009), 91 (2010), 98 (2011), 89 (2012) and 60 as of August this year.

“We need to think of a new approach in handling the baby dumping ill,” said the DAP parliamentarian.