QUIET NEIGHBOURHOOD: Taman Sunway residents were unaware of the incident which happened in an upstairs shophouse unit untill they read the newspapers
The couple embroiled in a shocking sodomy case involving their 23-day-old baby boy had kept to themselves so much that neighbours did not know who they were.
Residents at Jalan SM3 in Taman Sunway, Batu Caves, were shocked to learn of the incident in their neighbourhood last Friday.
Yesterday morning, The Malay Mail, accompanied by a Gombak Welfare Department officer, visited the shop-house the family lived in but found it empty and locked.
The officer wanted to assess the condition of the woman and child to see what assistance could be provided for the traumatised mother following an incident where the 28-year-old father sodomised the baby, after his 39-year-old wife refused to have sex with him on Friday morning.
Neighbours told The Malay Mail they only learnt about the incident through the media and do not know who the couple were.
"We don't really know each another here as we do not mingle. Everyone leaves early in the morning and comes home late at night," said the employee of a workshop.
On Friday evening, the mother found the baby weak and listless and discovered injuries on the baby’s anus and mouth when she was bathing him.
She had earlier refused to have sex with her husband since she was going through confinement after giving birth three weeks ago.
Without her husband's knowledge, she took the injured baby to a nearby clinic for treatment and was referred to Hospital Selayang where a doctor confirmed the baby was sodomised.
Police believe the father bruised the toddler’s mouth when trying to stop him from crying during the sexual assault.
He was also believed to have sodomised the baby in the bedroom while his wife was resting in the living room.
After admitting the baby to hospital, the woman lodged a report at the Selayang police station and the father was arrested at 8pm the same day at their home.
Gombak police chief ACP Abdul Rahim Abdullah confirmed the suspect had been detained and is being investigated under Section 377 of the Penal Code for unnatural sexual acts.
His remand order ends today.
The incident sparked outrage among Malaysians on Twitter.
The welfare department plans to provide the mother and baby with shelter and counselling.
