GEORGE TOWN: A college student, charged with murdering her newborn in July, was sent to jail after her bail was revoked by the Magistrate's Court here today.
Magistrate Jamaliah Abd Manap said 18-year-old M. Santhiea's bail was automatically revoked as the case had been transferred to the High Court.
The conditional bail was initially offered until the case was transferred to the High Court.
"Based on the Court of Appeal's decision, the conditional bail was placed until the case is transferred to the High Court.
"Since the case is now transferred (to the High Court), the bail no longer stands," she said today after hearing both Deputy Public Prosecutor Yazid Mustaqim Roslan and S. Meharaj, Santhiea's counsel.
It was reported that the teenager was granted bail by the Court of Appeal under Section 388(1) of the Criminal Procedure Code. Section 388(1) allows the court the discretion to grant bail to a woman or a sick or infirm person even for those charged under Section 302, a non-bailable offence.
Earlier, Yazid told the court that the bail set by the Court of Appeal was conditional and only until the case had been transferred to the High Court.
Meharaj said his client had fulfilled all the requirements of the bail and had attended all court proceedings.
"My client is still undergoing psychiatric and orthopedic treatment at a hospital here.
"She is weak, and with the Covid-19 pandemic not sparing the prisons, it would not be safe for her to be placed in jail," he said.
Speaking to newsmen outside the court, Meharaj said Santhiea would be temporarily placed at the Perlis correctional facility until the case is heard in the High Court, where they will apply for bail again.
Santhiea was charged on July 16 at her bedside at the Penang Hospital here with murdering her newborn on July 10.
She is alleged to have committed the offence at the driveway leading to the fourth floor parking lot of the Sri Ivory Apartment in Air Itam here, at about 8.25am on July 10.
She was charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code, which carries the mandatory death penalty upon conviction.
It was reported that a newborn was flung out of a 13th-floor apartment unit in Farlim on July 10.
The teenager and her 18-year-old boyfriend, with whom she admitted to having sexual intercourse, were detained soon after the incident to assist in the investigation.
The teenager had apparently kept the pregnancy under wraps from her family.
Police were alerted to the incident by a resident at the apartment block who had stumbled upon the dead baby girl on the fourth floor parking lot.
Following investigations, the girl revealed that she had woken up at 6am on the day of the alleged incident with a stomach ache, and about 30 minutes later, she went to the bathroom to defecate.
While she was defecating, the baby emerged and fell into the toilet bowl, before emitting cries.
She then wrapped the baby in the T-shirt she was wearing, before throwing her out of the back window.
The baby's body was badly mutilated from the impact of the fall.
