The Malaysian Insight

THE Social Welfare Department (JKM) today ordered the closure of a welfare home in Wangsa Maju after its founder was accused of child abuse and for running the shelter without approval.

JKM Kuala Lumpur director Che Samsuzuki Che Noh said the action was taken today after a court notice to vacate the residence was issued on July 9.

He said the department had received reports of child abuse involving a Down syndrome child known as Adik Bella, 13.

He added that the shelter, which was established in 2019, was also found to be an unregistered and belonging to a woman who was also the office bearer of an Umno branch’s Puteri Umno unit.

“For now, we have taken proactive steps, where we find that this shelter has violated the conditions of operating the centre as a welfare home,” he said, adding that the house was mostly sheltering adolescents who had gotten pregnant out-of-wedlock.

“This confiscation action remains until there is a court order to open it. Only if there is an order is it allowed to be opened,” he said during a press conference today.

Commenting on the other residents, Samsuzuki said there were 19 individuals living there and they were given the option to return to their families.

However, JKM has prepared another welfare home on standby in Perak, should the families refuse to accept them.

On June 23, Adik Bella was found covered with fresh wounds and scabs all over her body by a volunteer at the shelter.

It is understood that the special needs child had only been living at the shelter for four months from July until October 2020, when she was taken in by the founder of the shelter, who was taking care of five other kids in her own home.

In a five-minute video recorded by a volunteer who calls herself ‘Mummy’, Adik Bella is seen wearing a dress with a cardigan with visible wounds on her neck.

However, after being asked to remove her cardigan, her fresh wounds and scabs were revealed to be all over her body.

Bella was brought to Hospital Kuala Lumpur for her wounds and a police report was made on June 24 by the volunteer.

In the police report, Bella was found to have burns on her chest, hands, neck, and thighs as well as on other parts of her body, besides being confirmed positive for Covid-19.

The case is currently being investigated by the police under the Child’s Act 2001.

The Malaysian Insight has also reached out to its investigating officer Saiful Annuar Yusoff for comments on the status of the case.

In a Facebook post, written by a friend of the volunteer, it is understood that when she visited Bella earlier this year around February or March, the child had mentioned that she did not want to live there.

However, there was nothing to indicate that she may have been in danger then.

Since then, her requests to meet Adik Bella were always met by rejection and excuses.

In a press statement by Syed Azmi, who is a well-known social worker and also an advisor to the shelter, said that the shelter is not involved in the case of Adik Bella as the suspected abuse took place in the founder’s home.

He has also lodged a police report to clear the misunderstanding between the shelter and Adik Bella’s case.

He hopes that the shelter will be able to operate again as it has served many unfortunate youths in the past.

Adik Bella was placed in a welfare home by JKM in Taman Sinar Harapan Tuanku Ampuan Najihan in Seremban, Negeri Sembilan last Thursday.

Samsuzuki said three other children aged between one and two-year old were placed in Rumah Kanak-Kanak (RKK) in Kuala Kangsar, Perak.

“A 15-month-old baby had been handed over to a third party identified by the department while a 17-year-old teenager is now at RKK Rembau,” he said. – July 12, 2021.