Tampin district police chief Supt Hamazah Ab Razak said the toddler had been left at home by his mother since 6pm yesterday.
Police received a report from the village chief at 12.45am about the cries of a child inside a house that was in total 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. The police team who found him later gave the boy some food.
Hamazah said further investigations revealed that the child’s mother, a local woman, aged 29, had left her son alone so she could 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 was unemployed, had three other children from her first marriage.
“The woman did not bring along her youngest child because her family members did not know about his existence as she had delivered him out of wedlock when in 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 he was the son of his wife’s friend.”
Hamazah said the woman’s neighbours and the village chief were also in the dark about the child, whose birth had not been registered with the National Registration Department.
Meanwhile, the child has been sent to Tampin Hospital for a medical examination and is presently under the care of the Social Welfare Department.
“The woman is under remand until Monday and the case is being investigated under Section 33 of the Child Act 2001.
“I commend the village chief and residents for rescuing the child,” Hamazah said.
Negeri Sembilan Welfare, Women and Family Development Committee chairman Norhayati Omar said the boy’s grandfather, Ambia Timon, 59, a Felda settler, had agreed to take care of the child.
“When we visited him at the Tampin Hospital, the boy appeared healthy and cheerful and the physical examination done by the doctor also revealed that he has not sustained any injuries or showed any symptoms of abuse.
“Through the discussion, the grandfather agreed to take care of him and the state’s Social Welfare Department (JKM) will give the necessary aid and assistance to the family,” she told reporters after the visit.
Norhayati said the boy’s siblings, aged 16, 14 and 13, were also recipients of JKM’s monthly allowance of RM300, which was channelled to them through an account under their mother’s name, since 2011.
“Since their mother is now in police custody, JKM will transfer the allowance to be under their grandfather’s name as a temporary legal guardian,” she said.
Apart from financial assistance, Norhayati also said they would help the boy get his birth certificate.
“The birth certificate is an important document to ensure that he can enter school like the normal children,” she said.
In Pasir Mas, Deputy Women, Family and Community Development Minister Azizah Mohd Dun said the ministry would wait for full report on the case before taking any legal action against the boy’s mother under the Child Act 2001 for negligence.
“We will decide on the next cause of action based on the findings of the police investigation into the case,” she told reporters after visiting 1,111 flood evacuees at Sekolah Kebangsaan Kedai Tanjong.