A 14-year-old Malaysian girl who had allegedly suffered four years of abuse from her Indonesian stepmother, finally plucked up enough courage to ask her teacher for help after she was struck on the head.
Subang Jaya district police confirmed a suspected child abuse report had been filed by the victim herself who was accompanied by her school teacher on August 2, the China Press reported.
The victim was taken to a nearby hospital for an examination which determined that her body was covered in old and new bruises. Later on the same day, police arrested the child’s stepmother, a 33-year-old Indonesian.
Preliminary police investigations indicate that the victim has endured abuse throughout the four years since her father married the Indonesian woman.
The girl eventually came to her teacher after she had been severely beaten on the head on July 31.
The father of the girl admitted to the police that his wife often beat his daughter brutally in front of him. He claimed that he frequently stopped his wife from hitting his daughter further, but that the abuse did not stop.
The stepmother was detained for investigation under Section 31(1) of the Child Act 2001.