KUALA LUMPUR: A Myanmar couple has been detained to assist in investigations into the alleged murder of their newborn daughter whose body was found in a dumpster at the premises of an apartment building in Seri Kembangan, near here on Aug 27.
The husband and wife, both factory workers in their thirties, were arrested at about 8pm, the day after the infant’s body was found near the apartment in Taman Bukit Serdang, said Serdang district police chief ACP Ismadi Borhan.
A closed-circuit camera (CCTV) near the scene had captured the male suspect carrying a bundle that was believed to contain the baby, he said.
“Investigations revealed that the female suspect had later confessed to giving birth to the baby girl,“ he told a press conference at the Serdang District Police Headquarters (IPD) near here today.
Ismadi said the post mortem revealed that cause of death was due to suffocation.
“Based on the suspect’s statement, a cloth tied around the infant’s head and covering the mouth had caused the infant to suffocate.
“The Investigation earlier under Section 318 of the Penal Code for concealing the child’s birth is now being conducted under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder,“ he said.
On Aug 27, the body of the newborn baby was found wrapped in a black cloth and thrown into the dumpster at 4.30am.
Meanwhile, in another case, police arrested eight men suspected of robbing a 24-hour convenience store in seven raids carried out at Seri Kembangan, Puchong and Petaling Jaya on Aug 28 and 29.
Ismadi said all the suspects aged between 18 and 23, were arrested following a report lodged by one of the store’s workers in Taman Kinrara who said the outlet had been robbed by two men armed with machetes on Aug 20.
“The suspects had said they wanted to buy cigarettes but had instead pointed the machetes towards the victim before they fled with money from the till and several packets of cigarettes.
He said police investigations revealed that the group had been active in robberies around Serdang, Petaling Jaya and in Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur for the past two months. — Bernama
