It calls for Ambika MA Shan to be charged under Section 304 of the Penal Code, which provides for cases of culpable homicide not amounting to murder or deaths due to negligence.

Conviction under this law carries a penalty of up to 30 years in prison, depending on the level of intent established by the prosecution.

Initiated by Tenaganita, the petition comes after the Court of Appeal yesterday upheld a High Court decision to acquit Ambika of a murder charge.

On April 19 last year, the High Court in Penang acquitted Ambika of the murder of Adelina, 26, who succumbed to multiple organ failure following the alleged abuse at a house in Bukit Mertajam in 2018.

In its decision, the High Court invoked Section 254(3) of the Criminal Procedure Code and acquitted the accused on grounds of her health concerns and advanced age.

A petition established at the time questioning the decision arrived by the court garnered 30,000 signatures.

In the fresh petition, Tenaganita described the Court of Appeal’s decision as a “regressive step for the Malaysian justice system”.

“It conveyed a severely harmful message condoning heinous acts of abuse and exploitation.

“We hope that you will join us in seeking justice as we believe that we owe it to Adelina and her family to protect her dignity in her absence,” it says.