The Intermediate Court reserved sentencing for Saturday to consider a fitting punishment for an Indonesian domestic helper for abandoning her newborn baby after she pleaded guilty to the charge yestrday.

Twenty-one-year-old Marsina was working as a domestic helper in a household at Jalan Tanjung Selasih, RPN Kampong Panchor Mengkubau, Mentiri. She was already pregnant about four months when she flew into Brunei sometime in June 2016.

DPP Shamshuddin Kamaluddin's facts of the case revealed that the defendant had only realised her pregnancy sometime in October and eventually felt contraction pain on the evening of November 9, 2016.

At first she thought that she was about to defecate but then realised she was about to give birth and ran to the toilet on the ground floor of the house and gave birth to a baby boy. She also breastfed the baby to keep him from crying.

As soon as the baby fell asleep, the defendant cleaned up the toilet of any signs of her giving birth. She then placed her baby in a bucket, and left him at the back of a neighbouring house near the kitchen door which was three doors down her employer's house at Jalan Tanjung Selasih, RPN Kampong Panchor Mengkubau, Mentiri.
The defendant hoped that the house owner would find her baby and take care of it but little did she know that the house was empty.

The defendant returned to her employer and resumed work the following morning as usual. To the baby's luck, the empty house owner who had not yet moved in came by around to check that morning and discovered the baby.

The house owner immediately alerted the police and neighbours who then came by to help and some took pictures of the baby which became viral on social media.

An ambulance arrived and took the baby to Raja Isteri Pengiran Anak Saleha (RIPAS) Hospital. The Women and Children Abuse Investigation Unit, Criminal Investigation Department Police then launched investigations leading to the identification of the defendant as the baby's mother.

Judge Pengiran Hajah Hanani binti Pengiran Haji Metussain inquired how the defendant's pregnancy was overlooked by the relevant parties who employed her and found that it was not done in the best of faith according to procedures, leading up to her employment.

Marsina pleaded to the Judge for allowing to be reunited with her child immediately but the Judge could not issue an order as the matter has fallen into the jurisdiction of the relevant authorities who are taking care of the baby.

Source:
@BRUDIRECT.COM

by BruDirect.com

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