Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (CNN) — A video of a teenage Malaysian mother beating her baby daughter has generated a storm of outrage online a year after it was filmed, prompting the Malaysian Police to announce that the woman is already serving an 18-month prison sentence for the offense. The mother, seen raising her hand before hitting the child, sits on a bed, while the baby girl is on the corner of the mattress, crying hysterically as she lies face down In a post on their Facebook page this week, the Malaysian Police said they had received hundreds of complaints and comments about the case after the four-minute video of the mother repeatedly striking the baby with her hand, foot and a pillow went viral. The video fueled anger and disgust among Internet users from Malaysia to Massachusetts, where local news broadcaster WWLP-22News reported receiving “many emails” about the footage. The mother was 18 years old when she inflicted the beating on her 10-month-old child in May 2011, according to Arjunaidi Mohamed, the chief of police in Petaling Jaya, the suburb of Kuala Lumpur where the attack took place. A friend of the mother, who had become concerned after witnessing her beating the child previously, filmed the violence and took the video evidence to the police the same day, Arjunaidi said. As a result, the mother was convicted of child abuse and sentenced to 18 months in prison, he said, declining to disclose her name. At one point the mother grabs the babys head and slams it back down onto the mattress Attempts to obtain comment from the mother or a representative for her were unsuccessful Friday. The baby was put into the care of a foster family after her mother’s arrest and is now doing “very well,” said Fatimah Zuraidah Salleh, deputy director of the children division of the Social Welfare Department. Welfare officials check in every month with the foster family, who are unconnected to the family of the mother, Fatimah said. The initial furor this week among Internet users over the video appeared to stem from uncertainty about when the beating took place and the current status of the mother and child. Once the Malaysian Police clarified the situation in the case, online reactions consisted of relief that the authorities had intervened and dismay that the mother had not received a harsher sentence. “Good to hear police immediately took action and thanks for clearing the air,” a Facebook user named Prakash Raj said in a comment on the police’s page, adding that he thought the sentence was too light. “She’s lucky that didn’t happen here in the States,” said another Facebook user, Cindy Watanabe. “Not only would her sentence be a whole lot longer, she probably wouldn’t have made it to prison to serve her time and would never be able to hurt another child again.” A court will assess whether the mother, who is due to be released in late November, will be allowed to regain custody of the child, should she wish to do so, Fatimah said, adding that the process is very rigorous. Arjunaidi, the police chief, denied speculation that the teenage mother had been raped before committing the abuse on her child. He said that the woman was unmarried. He ascribed the cause of her actions to “frustration.” It was unclear why the video had surfaced online a year after the event. The police are investigating the leak of the video, Arjunaidi said. CNN
Posted on: Sun, 30 Mar 2014 02:26:41 +0000
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