MALACCA: A newborn baby girl was found, with her umbilical cord still attached, by a woman who was collecting cans near a restaurant in Taman Mutiara, Batu Berendam here at 7 am today.
Malacca Tengah district deputy police chief, Supt Raiz Mukhliz Azman Aziz, said the baby was believed to have just been born, and was found inside a clothes basket near the premises.
“The 51-year-old woman, who is a general worker, after hearing a baby crying, found the infant inside a batik-lined cream-coloured clothes basket placed near the restaurant,” he said in a statement.
Raiz Mukhliz said that the woman then went straight to a nearby clinic for help and to contact the police and ambulance.
He said that the baby girl, whose race was not yet known, was still at the Malacca Hospital for further treatment, and an investigation paper had been opened by the Sexual, Women and Child Investigation Division (D11) of the Criminal Investigation Department of the Malacca police contingent headquarters (IPK).
He added that the case was being investigated under Section 317 of the Penal Code for concealing a birth with the intent of abandoning an infant, which provides imprisonment of not more than seven years or a fine, or both, upon conviction. — Bernama