Blunt force head trauma caused death of four year-old child abuse victim - Police

JOHOR BAHRU - Blunt force head trauma has been identified as the cause of death of a four year-old boy, suspected to be victim of child abuse in Senggarang, Batu Pahat

Johor police chief, Datuk Kamarul Zaman Mamat said the cause of death was obtained following a post-mortem on the boy yesterday at the Sultan Ismail Hospital (HSI) here.

"HSI specialists who carried out the post-mortem concluded that the cause of death was blunt force head trauma, which means the victim was struck in the head by a hard object.

"However, they also found scratches and bite marks ... we will continue investigating to gather more information from the post-mortem,” he told reporters after attending Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) and Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM) Undergraduate Police Volunteer Corps (SUKSIS) graduation and certificate presentation ceremony at the Johor Bahru police contingent headquarters today.

He said that a total of 10 individuals including the victim’s family members were called up to have their statements recorded to assist the investigation.

"We recorded statements from family members and several witnesses which we believe will assist the investigation and there will be more individuals who will be called up to record their statements," he said.

Meanwhile, he said that five suspects including the victim’s sister and brother-in-law who are under remand from Sunday until this Saturday will have their remand extended for further investigations in accordance with Section 302 of the Penal Code.

The boy was laid to rest at the Kampung Sungai Gatom Muslim cemetery at 5.30pm yesterday.

He was admitted to the HSI on Dec 23 after he was reported to have collapsed at the house of his sister's friend in Senggarang before he died last Monday.

The child was taken into care by his sister after his parents were sentenced to prison for drug offences before being handed over to her sister's friend (the complainant) for care.

Kamarul Zaman before this had confirmed that there were new and old injuries all over the boy's body.

Besides burn marks, he also suffered injuries in the genitals and bites to the ears.

To date, five individuals aged between 15 and 37 have been arrested to assist in the investigation including the victim’s 19 year-old sister and her 37 year-old husband. - BERNAMA