Nusron Wahid, head of the Agency for Placement and Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers, was reported by the Jakarta-based Kompas news portal as saying that the scars on Adelina’s right arm were believed to be from bites by an animal.
He said those on her left arm were the result of being affected by a chemical.
According to the report yesterday, the information was confirmed by an official who had seen Adelina’s body and had met a forensics expert at the Seberang Jaya Hospital.
It also claimed that it was further confirmed by police officers from the Central Seberang Perai district police headquarters.
“As of now, the cause of death is determined to be anaemia, loss of blood and malnutrition as a result of neglect over a long period by the family that had employed her,” Nusron said.
“However, the forensic examination did not find any traces of beatings and internal injuries,” he added.
He said Adelina had wounds that had not been treated and had become infected, leading to organ failure in her body.
Police in Penang are investigating the case for murder and have arrested two siblings, aged 36 and 39, and their 60-year-old mother.
Adelina, 26, who hailed from Indonesia’s East Nusa Tenggara province, had been working at their semi-detached house in Taman Kota Permai in Bukit Mertajam.
A concerned neighbour who spotted her with wounds on her arms and legs had alerted the office of Bukit Mertajam MP Steven Sim, whose aides later informed the police as well as the human rights NGO Tenaganita.
Adelina had also been seen sleeping next to a Rottweiler for two months.
Yesterday, Dr Amir Saad Abdul Rahim, forensic pathologist at the Seberang Jaya Hospital mortuary, had told the press that the cause of death was “multi-organ failure secondary to anaemia”.
“It is possible that the deceased had suffered neglect,” he said.
Neni Kurniati, the Indonesian consul in Penang, had said that Adelina had been working with her current employer in Bukit Mertajam since December 2014, based on the data from her passport.
She said Adelina had a valid passport and the consulate was checking if she had a valid permit to work in Malaysia.