Her thighs were scalded with hot
water
April 29, 2007
AT the tender ages of 8 and 9, two siblings were abused by their
grandmother for two years until they were rescued on 18 Apr,
reported New Straits Times (NST).
The 8-year-old girl endured endless beatings from her
grandmother.
Her thighs were scalded with hot water and heated knives, said
Johor's Malaysian Indian Congress Social and Welfare Bureau
chairman SDeva.'The grandmother even placed a knife to the girl's
face and beat her on more than one occasion on the head with a
wooden club which had a nail,' he told NST.
'The uncle would also pick her up and throw her around like a rag
doll. She was not allowed to enter the hall and had to sleep on the
cold kitchen floor and, at times, in the chicken coop.'
FORCED TO STOP SCHOOL
Her brother, 9, was forced to stop school. He was then made to
pluck vegetables from a farm in Kluang, Johor and handle hazardous
fertilisers.
In the evening, he cleaned a temple near his grandmother's
house.
The children were even deprived of food and had to survive with a
meagre half-a-cup of coffee for breakfast, and one meal a day,
which consisted of spoilt food.
Bearing with their pain and suffering, the children often went to
bed crying and prayed that someone would come to rescue them from
their misery.
They were rescued on 18 Apr when a teacher at the girl's school
discovered their plight and alerted their mother.
Immediately, their mother picked her up and took her to the
hospital.
The police rescued the boy on that night itself.
The children had been living with their paternal grandmother in
Paloh, Johor since their father's death two years ago.
Their mother lives 120km away in Masai.
Kluang police chief Assistant Commissioner Fawzi Arshad said the
rescue team, led by Chief Inspector You Swee Ling, had also
detained the grandmother for questioning.
'We are compiling statements on the abuse suffered by the
children,' said MrFawzi.
Mr Deva said the bureau was arranging for the children to continue
their education in a Tamil school in Johor Baru and arranging a
better paying job for the mother who is now a babysitter.