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A rather peculiar case caught the attention of Malaysians recently after a 14-year-old girl was apprehended by the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) at the lobby of Hospital Sultan Idris Shah in Serdang, Selangor for impersonating a medical doctor.
According to a statement by the Sepang District Police Chief Wan Kamarul Azran bin Yusof, the girl had allegedly disguised herself as a medical officer and even managed to enter an operation theatre to “help perform surgery”.
The statement added that the police had received a report from the hospital staff about the presence of the underage girl at 1pm on 7 August. Furthermore, at 8.30am the next day, the same individual again attempted to register at a counter using a fake identity, which was later revealed to be her mother’s MyKad.
Local media also reported that the girl had allegedly been disguising herself as a medical officer at the hospital for a week.
She was apprehended on 8 August, with scrubs and a hospital lanyard in her possession also seized by the police.
So, what legal actions can be taken against the 14-year-old girl? Furthermore, since she’s underage, can any criminal proceedings even be initiated against her?
Well, join us as we break down the relevant laws on the matter below.
Sections 442 and 448 of the Penal Code for house-trespassing
Based on what has been reported about the case, 1 offence that the girl had apparently committed is house-trespass, which is governed under Section 442 of the Penal Code below:
As per the above provision, it can be argued that the girl had engaged in house-trespass by committing criminal trespass by entering into and remaining in a building, which in this case is the Hospital Sultan Idris Shah.
Accordingly, whoever commits house-trespass may be charged under Section 448 of the Penal Code below:
Hence, should the girl be charged and convicted under Section 448, she may face up to 3 years in jail or a fine of up to RM5,000 or both.
Section 170 of the Penal Code
Besides that, given that the girl impersonated a medical doctor at the hospital, she may also be charged under Section 170 of the Penal Code for impersonating a public servant below:
Given that the suspect fulfilled all the criteria needed as per the above provision, she may face up to 2 years imprisonment or a fine or both if convicted.
Can the underage suspect be charged in court under a criminal proceeding?
In Malaysia, children below the age of 10 are exempt from any criminal liability as they are deemed to not understand the consequences of their actions.
Section 82 of the Penal Code deals specifically with this matter as below:
Based on the above provision, it is clear that any criminal offence by a child under 10 years old is not considered an offence in our country. In relation to minors, those aged between 10 and 12 may face criminal liability as per Section 83 of the Penal Code below:
The presumption in law in such circumstances is that children of this age are “incapable of criminal intent”, hence the onus is on the prosecution to rebut such a presumption. In other words, the prosecution must prove that the child aged as young as 10 is indeed capable of criminal intent. This is actually called the doctrine of doli incapax which is applicable in many countries around the world, such as the United States.
However, such a doctrine is no longer applicable in the United Kingdom, whereby Section 34 of the country’s Crime and Disorder Act abolished the rebuttable presumption of criminal law that a child aged 10 or over is incapable of committing an offence.
In Malaysia, as per Section 83 of the Penal Code, should an offence be committed by children between 10 and 12, the prosecution must first prove that they have attained sufficient maturity or understanding of the nature and consequences of their actions.
Given her age, the suspect can be tried at the Court for Children, a court dedicated especially for children in Malaysia established in the Child Act 2001.
The word ‘child’ was defined under the Act to refer to a person below the age of 18 and in criminal proceedings, a person who has attained the age of criminal responsibility as per Section 82 of the Penal Code that we elaborated on before.
Besides that, Section 11(5) of the Child Act 2001 prescribed that the Court for Children can only try a child for offences that are not punishable by death. Given that the maximum sentence for the offences allegedly committed by the 14-year-old girl is only up to 3 years in jail, she thus can be tried in the Court for Children.
However, instead of being sent to jail, an underage individual who committed non-serious offences as per Section 52A of the Penal Code below, they can be ordered to be sent to an approved school.
As per the above provision, a non-serious offence is an offence that is punishable with imprisonment of not more than 10 years and the offences the underage suspect committed are only punishable by up to 3 years in jail.
Furthermore, the conditions for an underage offender to be sent to an approved school is governed under Section 67 of the Child Act 2001 below:
Moving forward, it’d be interesting to see the development in this intriguing case. Above all, let’s hope that the girl’s welfare is taken care of and that she is given all the necessary help she needs before any criminal proceedings are initiated, especially considering she has a history of psychiatric treatment.
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