PETALING JAYA: A woman was arrested yesterday for abandoning her newborn outside a house in Lahad Datu, leading to the infant’s death.
Lahad Datu police chief Dzulbaharin Ismail said the 30-year-old suspect was arrested at the Lahad Datu police headquarters.
During interrogation, she admitted to giving birth to the baby and placing him outside the house in Kampung Burung.
The case is being probed under Section 317 of the Penal Code for concealing a birth with the intent to abandon the baby, which provides for imprisonment of up to seven years, a fine, or both, upon conviction.
A member of the public found the baby wrapped in a cloth in front of an unnumbered house at 3.06am last Friday.
The baby, who was still alive at the time, was sent to Lahad Datu Hospital for treatment but pronounced dead at 7.02pm the same day as he was premature and underweight.