Nurul Shahidatul Afzan Zainal was found to have violently shaken the three-month-old victim to the extent of causing the infant to experience bleeding in the brain and eyes.

She was convicted by the Magistrates’ Court in July 2015, and that ruling was then upheld by the Shah Alam High Court in August 2017.

However, a three-member Court of Appeal bench, chaired by Abdul Karim Abdul Jalil, dismissed the appeal today and also maintained the order by a magistrate that the accused pay RM40,000 in compensation to the family of the victim.

Nurul, 38, had paid the penalty.

Three years ago, another Appeal Court bench allowed Nurul’s application to appeal against conviction and sentence after approving three questions of law.

An accused must get leave of the court if the trial starts in a Magistrates’ Court.

Today, Karim said the charge under Section 31(1)(a) of the Child Act 2001 was not a strict liability offence and the prosecution must prove intention that an accused had committed the crime.

“In this case, though the magistrate never mentioned the term ‘mens rea’ (criminal intent), there was overwhelming evidence against the accused.”

He said this was evident in her conduct to violently shake the baby girl that led to bleeding in the brain and eyes.

Karim said the bench, that consisted of Judges Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera and Che Mohd Ruzima Ghazali, invoked Section 60 of the Courts of Judicature Act to review the evidence.

He said since the evidence was overwhelming, this court also maintained that the magistrate in 2015 was correct in relying on Section 426(1)(a) of the Criminal Procedure Code to order the compensation.

Karim said the bench also came to the conclusion that the amended charge against the accused was not prejudicial to her defence.

“We now order a committal to be issued,” Karim said, as Nurul was later taken to the court lock-up before being sent to prison.

Nurul was out on RM8,000 bail pending the outcome of her appeal.

The Magistrates’ Court had found the woman guilty of abusing the child by violently shaking the girl at Pusat Jagaan Nur Kasih in Petaling Jaya on Feb 24, 2012.

She was charged under Section 31(1)(a) of the Child Act which carries a jail term of up to 10 years or fine not exceeding RM20,000, or both, upon conviction.

Lawyer Ramkarpal Singh represented the accused and deputy public prosecutor Ku Hayati Ku Haron for the prosecution.