Aunt of toddler who died during exorcism ritual found fit for trial

[Windsorhai]

Published: Thursday September 13, 2012 MYT 1:51:00 PM
Updated: Thursday September 13, 2012 MYT 3:04:44 PM

Aunt of toddler who died during exorcism ritual found fit for trial

By DERRICK VINESH

BUTTERWORTH: The aunt of a toddler, who died during a exorcism ritual, has been found by a Sessions Court here to be fit for trial, although she was suffering mental problems during the incident.

Sessions judge Ikmal Hishan Mohd Tajuddin accepted a psychiatric report from Hospital Bahagia, Tanjung Rambutan, which stated that Chua Ah Luan, 40, could stand trial. He allowed Ah Luan to be released on a RM4,000 bail with one surety, pending trial.

Ah Luan, a school teacher, was jointly charged with six other family members on Aug 17, with causing the death of her niece, aged two years and nine months, through a rash or negligent act. The others were the child's parents, Chua Seng Ban and Lim She Lee, both 35, grandmother Ong Soh Guat, 67, uncle Chua Seng Hoo, 29, and cousins Loke Xin Lin, 21 and a 16-year old boy.

They were alleged to have committed the offence at a house in Lorong Bukit Minyak 19, Taman Bukit Minyak in Bukit Tengah near Bukit Mertajam, between 7.50pm and 10.52pm on Aug 5, 2012.

She Lee was seen wiping her tears with a handkerchief outside the court, but the rest of her family members were calm. Judge Ikmal Hishan also granted DPP Siti Aishah Ramlan's request to use Section 396 of the Criminal Procedure Code to record a statement from the family's Indonesian maid.

He also fixed Oct 4 for mention.

 

[Windsorhai]

Tuesday August 7, 2012

Exorcism leaves toddler dead
By M. SIVANANTHA SHARMA
[email protected]

BUKIT MERTAJAM: A toddler died during what is believed to be a 20-hour exorcism ritual. Police stormed a double-storey house in Taman Bukit Minyak on Sunday night and found a group of eight people lying on top of the two-year-old girl.

The girl was lying face down under the human pile made up of her parents, grandmother, uncle, aunt, two cousins and their Indonesian maid.

Central Seberang Prai OCPD Asst Comm Azman Abd Lah said the family members, aged between 16 and 67, were lying on top of each other with the toddler at the bottom in the master bedroom. The lights in the room were switched off.

“The child died due to breathing difficulties,” he said. Her body has been sent to the Seberang Jaya Hospital for a post-mortem.

Tragic end: Policemen carrying the body of the toddler from the house in Taman Bukit Minyak.

The case, he added, was being investigated under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder.

Apparently, another of the girl's uncles had earlier come by to invite the family for dinner but was chased away.

However, he returned to the house with his wife a few hours later to find the main door locked. Suspecting something amiss, he alerted the police.

It is understood that the ritual had started at 2am on Sunday with the family, who was fasting, being confined to the second floor room.

The group was brought to a magistrate's court here at about 11am yesterday and ordered to be placed under remand until Aug 12.

One woman, believed to be the girl's aunt, was seen moving her lips and swinging her hands during the court proceedings.

It is also learnt that the girl's mother, who is three months' pregnant, was not produced in court as she had been admitted to the Bukit Mertajam Hospital.

 

[Windsorhai]

14 September 2012 | last updated at 12:52AM

Woman in exorcism case 'fit to stand trial'

By ADIE SURI ZULKEFLI | [email protected]

EVALUATION: She, together with 6 others, is charged with causing death of her niece

Chua Ah Luan arriving at the Butterworth Sessions Court for the being briefed on the heritage room by pre-trial conference yesterday.

BUTTERWORTH: THE woman who allegedly led an exorcism ritual which claimed the life of 3-year-old Chua Wan Xuen in Bukit Minyak last month, has been declared fit to stand trial.

Psychiatrists from Hospital Bahagia Ulu Kinta, however, also found that the accused, Chua Ah Luan, 40, could have been suffering from a mental condition when she allegedly led six other family members in the ritual.

They reached this conclusion after conducting a month-long evaluation on Chua, who is a former teacher and also the deceased's aunt.

Deputy public prosecutor Siti Aishah Ramlan related the findings to Judge Ikmal Hishan Mohd Tajuddin when the case came up for pre-trial hearing yesterday.

Chua was one of seven people who were charged with causing Wan Xuen's death by negligence.

Also charged were the child's father, Chua Seng Ban, and mother Lim She Lee, both 35, the victim's uncle Chua Seng Hoo, 29, aunt Chua Ah Luan, 40, grandmother Ong Soh Guat, 67, and cousins Loke Xim Lin, 21, and a 16-year-old boy.

Seng Ban and She Lee, who was three months pregnant, are also slapped with an additional charge under the Child Act 2001 for exposing their child to physical injuries.

If convicted, both can be fined up to RM20,000 or jailed a maximum 10 years, or both. They allegedly committed the offence on Aug 5 in their home at Lorong Bukit Minyak 19, Taman Bukit Minyak in Bukit Tengah between 7.50pm and 10.52pm.

Yesterday, all the accused, who were released on RM4,000 bail each, were in court. She Lee was seen crying. Lawyer C.P Ang represented all the accused.

It was reported that the seven family members and their Indonesian maid took part in the ritual to allegedly save the toddler from an angry spirit.

The Indonesian maid was not charged and was expected to be produced as a prosecution witness. The case was fixed for mention on Oct 4.