According to lawyer Sangeet Kaur Deo, High Court judge Hassan Abdul Ghani said that he found no error in the magistrates’ court’s decision to not grant bail for the girl.

“The court did not exercise its power to revise the decision of the magistrate in relation to the bail. However, the court did allow for the girl to be referred for psychiatric evaluation,” she told FMT.

She said that the next case management is scheduled for March 16 and that she was awaiting further instructions from her client.

Yayasan Chow Kit’s Hartini Zainudin, who was also present at the hearing, said that she was let down by the court’s decision in denying bail.

“I was hoping against hope and did not expect today’s outcome. I think it’s just an injustice,” she told FMT.

She said that the girl’s mother was also present at the hearing and was visibly distraught at the decision.

Previously, the girl’s lawyer Nurainie Haziqah Shafii submitted a bail application but it was rejected by the magistrates’ court.

Since then, Sangeet had been appointed to represent the girl and had appealed for a revision of the magistrate’s decision.

On Feb 9, the girl, a rape victim, was remanded for seven days to facilitate investigations into the death of a newborn baby boy, believed to have been stabbed with a sharp object at a house in Felcra Seri Bandi, Chukai in Kemaman the day before.