3-year-old found alone at home

A three-year-old boy was found alone at a house in Kampung Parit Buluh, Air Kuning Selatan near here at 1am today by police and villagers.

Tampin district police chief Supt Hamazah Ab Razak said when met that the toddler had been left at home by his mother since 6pm last night.

"Police received a report from the village chief at 12.45am about hearing the cries of a child inside a house which was in darkness.

"A police team and villagers had to break into the house which was locked and found a crying toddler without any clothes on," he said in a statement here today.

Initial investigations found that the child did not have any external injuries, and was later fed by the police team who found him.

Hamazah said further investigations revealed that the child's mother, a local woman aged 29 had left her son alone as she had to visit her mentally ill mother at Felda Jelai 1 and her stepmother who had met with an accident.

He said aside from the toddler, the woman who is unemployed had three other children from her first marriage.

"The woman did not bring along her youngest child because her family members do not know about his existence as she had delivered him out of wedlock from a relationship with an Indonesian man who had since abandoned her.

"Her second husband who is working as a lorry driver also did not know about the child and thought that he was the son of his wife's friend."

Hamazah said the woman's neighbours and the village chief were also not aware of the presence of the child, whose birth had not been registered with the National Registration Department.

Meanwhile, the child had been sent to Tampin Hospital for medical examination and presently under the care of the Social Welfare Department.

"The woman is under remand till Monday and the case is being investigated under Section 33 of the Child Act 2001.

"I commend the village chief and residents for being sensitive to their surroundings and in this regard, have rescued a child," he said. -- Bernama