Suhakam children’s commissioner Farah Nini Dusuki said the lenient charge and subsequent sentence failed to serve public interest and implied that child abuse is tolerable.

“I call upon the deputy public prosecutor to appeal against the decision and to seek a harsher sentence, ensuring the offenders will be given a jail sentence,” she said in a statement.

On Tuesday, The Malay Mail reported that R Thayalan, 39, and his girlfriend, K Mageswari, 41, were fined a total of RM17,000 and ordered to undergo community service for 440 hours for confining a seven-year-old boy in a bathroom without food or drink two years ago.

Judge Thalha Bachok @ Embok Mok ordered that the accused serve six months’ imprisonment each if they fail to pay the fine.

The boy, who is Thayalan’s biological son, was found in a malnourished and emaciated state.

The charge was framed under Section 33 of the Child Act 2001 for leaving a child without reasonable supervision, which carries a maximum penalty of a RM20,000 fine, a prison sentence of up to five years, or both.

Farah said the couple ought to have been charged under Section 31 of the same Act for various forms of child abuse, including neglect.

“The charge under Section 33 did not commensurate with the abuse. The facts show that the actions (of the couple) went beyond leaving a child without reasonable supervision.

“The boy was asked to drink from the toilet and given minimum food and suffered from severe malnutrition. There were clear acts of negligence which fall under Section 31,” she added.

Deputy public prosecutor Nor Maisarah Hassan had told the court that the victim was in a lifeless state when he was rescued and rushed to Sultanah Aminah Hospital for treatment.

She also read out a statement from the victim, who is now under the care of his biological mother in Selangor and remains traumatised.