Sharifah Mazlan, 51, made the plea after the charges were read before judge Norhazani Hamzah at the sessions court here.

The mother of three was charged with ill-treating a disabled child at MaiKidz Care Centre, an autism intervention centre in Bandar Baru Ampang, at 10am on Oct 1, under Section 31(1)(a) of the Child Act 2001.

She faces a maximum fine of RM50,000 or imprisonment of up to 20 years, or both, if found guilty.

Deputy public prosecutor Suriantiazila Muhamad requested that no bail be granted to Sharifah as she was a foreigner and the case had received wide media coverage.

But Sharifah’s lawyer Samry Masri pleaded for bail to be granted as she was a mother of three and had to care for her family.

Norhazani allowed bail of RM13,000 with one surety and ordered Sharifah to surrender her passport and report to the nearest police station every month.

Sharifah was also charged at the magistrates’ court with overstaying in Malaysia by up to nine months with an expired social pass. She pleaded not guilty to the charge under Section 15 (1) (c) of the Immigration Act.

If convicted, she can be fined not more than RM10,000 or jailed for a maximum of five years, or both, as well as be given six lashes of the whip.

Magistrate Nur Maizan Rahim granted bail of RM5,000 with two local sureties.

Both cases are set for mention on Dec 9.

It was previously reported that the autistic boy’s father noticed bruises on the left shoulder and both eyes when fetching him from the centre on Oct 1.

A video also went viral showing a woman behaving violently towards an autistic child.

Ampang Jaya police chief Mohamad Farouk Eshak had said one of the teachers had informed the man that his son had banged his head on the table as he did not want to eat his food.

Feeling suspicious, the father checked CCTV footage from the scene and lodged a police report that his son had been abused.

Police found that the centre’s licence had expired two months ago.