00:00The Court of Appeal has upheld the conviction and 12-year prison sentence of Rumah Bondah
00:07founder Siti Bainun Ad-Razali for neglecting and abusing a teenage girl with Down syndrome
00:12known as Bella. A three-judge panel chaired by Justice Azman Abdullah unanimously dismissed
00:19Siti Bainun's final appeal on Thursday after hearing submissions. The other judges were
00:24Justices Azmi Arifin and Hayatul Akmal Abdulaziz. Justice Azman said Bella's injuries supported
00:31by eyewitness and medical testimony were neither accidental nor self-inflicted and had occurred on
00:38multiple occasions. Claims of discrepancies in a key witness's testimony and allegations of a frame-up
00:44were rejected, with the court finding the witness acted on Siti Bainun's instructions. The court found
00:51no error in the High Court's decision to affirm the session's court's ruling and said the prosecution
00:56had proven its case beyond reasonable doubt. The 12-year sentence was deemed appropriate as a
01:02deterrent. Siti Bainun appeared calm as the decision was delivered. At the outset, the panel rejected her
01:09bid to introduce new evidence involving Ismanira Abdul-Manaf, the mother of the late Zayn Rayyan
01:15Abdul-Matin, saying it failed to meet legal requirements. Siti Bainun was convicted on May 3,
01:222023, and ordered to serve 12 years in prison, sign a five-year good behaviour bond, pay a 5,000 ringgit
01:30deposit and perform 200 hours of community service upon release. She was sent to Kajang prison immediately
01:37after her stay application was rejected. The offences occurred at a Wangsa Maju condominium
01:43between February and June 2021. The High Court upheld the decision on May 2, 2024.
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