[VladFal]

Friday June 25, 2010
Hospitals warned against concealing cases of underage mums

GEORGE TOWN: The police have warned hospitals and clinics that action could be taken against them if they fail to report the birth of a child to an underage mother at their premises. Penang deputy police chief Senior Asst Comm I Datuk Tun Hisan Tun Hamzah said this was because sex with a girl under 16 was classified as statutory rape under the Penal Code. He was commenting on a report in a Chinese daily that a Year Three schoolgirl gave birth to a baby boy last month after she allegedly had an affair with her 14-year-old neighbour.

“It is an offence for any party to withhold information from the police as they can be charged under Section 13 of the Criminal Procedure Code,” he told reporters after visiting an injured policeman at the Penang Hospital here yesterday. SAC Tun Hisan urged the public who had any details pertaining to the case to inform the police immediately.

State education director Ibrahim Mohamad said he had checked with school heads and all of them were in the dark about the incident. “We will continue with our investigations. I hope other departments will work with us as well so that we can get to the bottom of the case,” he said. Ibrahim said a schoolgirl who was found to have taken numerous medical certificates was not connected with the case. “The girl has been transferred to another school now. It is not true that she had dropped out,” he said.

State Health, Welfare and Caring Society Committee chairman Phee Boon Poh said his officers were checking with private hospitals and the National Registration Department to find out if there was any record of the baby’s birth. He said they were also checking whether the news report was based on hearsay. “This is a serious matter. If it is proven to be a false report, those who reported the news will have to be responsible for it,” Phee said during a press conference at his office in Komtar.

A spokesman of Guang Ming Daily which reported the birth, declined to comment. The paper had reported that the girl, who comes from a broken home, gave birth at a private hospital some time last month. The girl, the paper claimed, seemed mature for her age as she was big compared with other girls of her age. The report claimed that the boy’s affair with the girl started when she was eight. The baby is said to be taken care of by the girl’s grandmother, who disclosed the case to a non-governmental organisation that alerted the paper about it.