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.