RUMAH Bonda founder Siti Bainun Ahd Razali today testified at her defence trial that she sought the best medicine at a pharmacy to treat burns on the hand of the teenager with Down syndrome known as Bella. 

Responding to a cross-examination by deputy public prosecutor Shakira Aliana Alias, Siti Bainun said she asked for medication and told a pharmacist through WhatsApp about Bella’s badly burned hand. 

She did not agree with Shakira Aliana’s suggestion that Bella was only treated at home and the accused went to the pharmacy because she feared exposure from having caused the teenage girl’s wounds. 

Shakira Aliana: I said you knew Bella was badly hurt and needed to be taken to the clinic, but you didn’t because you were afraid of what you did to Bella being exposed? 

 Siti Bainun: Disagree. 

The accused also denied that Bella was looked after by a former resident of Rumah Bonda, Yasmin Nahar Mahmood (the fifth prosecution witness), when the teenager was injured. 

Siti Bainun did not agree with the prosecution’s suggestion that she did not seriously care for Bella and gave that responsibility to Yasmin. 

In previous proceedings, Yasmin told the court that Siti Bainun had bought medication and ordered her to apply it on Bella’s wound. 

Siti Bainun was charged with neglecting and abusing the teenager, causing physical and emotional injury in a condominium unit in Wangsa Maju between February and June 2021, according to Section 31(1)(a) of the Children Act 2001, which carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years or a fine of RM50,000 or both if convicted. 

The trial took place before Judge Izralizam Sanusi. – Bernama, February 27, 2023.