26 baby dumping cases reported in first quarter of 2014

KUALA LUMPUR: Twenty-six baby dumping cases were reported nationwide in the first quarter of this year.
Women, Family and Community Development Deputy Minister Datuk Azizah Mohd Dun said according to statistics issued by the Royal Malaysian Police, Selangor recorded the highest number with five cases, four in Sabah, followed by three each in Sarawak and Negeri Sembilan.
Azizah was replying to a question from Datuk Ikmal Hisham Abdul Aziz (BN-Tanah Merah) in the Dewan Rakyat, here today, regarding statistics and government measures to curb the social problem.
She said action had been taken against 46 women for the offence from 2011 to 2013. However, details on the type of action taken and the women's age group were not revealed.
Azizah, who is also Beaufort MP, said the ministry currently did not have statistics on baby dumping resulting from relationships between local women and male foreign immigrants.
"To tackle baby dumping, the ministry now has seven programmes which include the National Policy and Plan of Action on Reproductive Health and Social Education, introduced in 2009.
"Besides that, the Reproductive and Social Health Programme (Pekerti) was introduced in 2012 as a co-curriculum activity in schools which targeted students in Year Six, Form Three and Special Education.
"In 2012, 2,376 students from 33 schools took part in the programme. The project was then implemented in 2014 by carrying out a Training for Trainers (TOT) course at three primary, secondary and special education schools in September 2014," she said. – Bernama