Welfare and police officers rescuing the three siblings from their mother who is suspected of abusing them.
LIMBANG: Three children here, aged 10 to 14, were stopped by their estranged mother from going to school for the past fortnight.
An old bruise on the thigh of one of the siblings indicated possible abuse which prompted the Welfare Department office here to intervene and take custody of the three children.
They were living in fear and refused to talk when first approached by the officers at their house in Kuala Berawan Baru Limbang on Tuesday afternoon.
Acting on a public tip-off, the authorities rescued a 14-year-old girl and her two younger brothers aged 12 and 10 who were suspected to have been mentally tortured by their own mother.
A source familiar with the investigation said their mother stopped the trio from going to school, or going out of their house for the past two weeks.
The 35-year-old mother was reported to be under mental stress as she was in the process of being divorced from her husband.
“All the victims were fearful and refused to talk when the welfare officers and policemen came to visit them,” said the source.
Efforts by the welfare office to meet the children on Monday were thwarted when the mother refused to open the door of their house.
Police were roped in on Tuesday to persuade her to cooperate.
The Welfare Department will apply to the court today for a custody order to send the children to a children protection centre in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah or be looked after by their next-of-kin.
Limbang police chief Supt Mohd Bukhori Saffai confirmed that Chinese community leaders had asked the police and the Welfare Department to take appropriate action.
All the three children were referred to Limbang Hospital for medical check-up.
“All the three siblings refuse to stay with either their father or mother,” he said.
The mother has been arrested and police have applied to remand her for four days to facilitate investigation into the case, which has shocked the Limbang community.
She will be referred to hospital for mental health evaluation.
The case is being investigated under Section 3 (1) (9a) of Children Act 2001 for physical or mental abuse of children.
In an unrelated case, Limbang police are investigating a complaint of having been cheated of RM580 paid for an online purchase of games accessories which turned out to be fraud.