Girl chained to lamp post for refusing to go to school

PETALING JAYA: For refusing to attend school, an eight-year-old girl was allegedly punished by her mother who led her out of their house and chained the student's leg to a lamp post at an apartment on Jalan PJS9/1, Bandar Sunway here on Wednesday.
The girl who attends a vernacular school was clad in her student pinafore with her school bag next to her when she was spotted by other residents of the Lagoon Perdana apartments at about 6.15pm.
Several residents went over to check on the Year Two pupil who also lives at the apartments and found a padlocked thick industrial link chain attached to her leg and a lamp post a a playground on the ground floor.
A resident called the police soon after.
Subang Jaya police chief ACP Mohd Azlin Sadari said after police patrolmen arrived at the scene, the girl's 30-year-old mother showed up 10 minutes later and admitted that she was responsible for binding her child's leg to the lamp post.
"She told police that her daughter had often refused to go to school and this led to the woman to resort to meting out the punishment. The policemen ordered her to hand over the key to the padlock before freeing the girl." he said.
Mohd Azlin said the girl and her mother were both taken to the Subang Jaya district police headquarters for investigations.
He said police learnt that the girl had no past history of being abused and it was the first time her mother had resorted to chaining the girl as a form of punishment.
Mohd Azlin said police freed the mother and returned the child to her.
He said the girl's mother is being investigated for endangering a child's safety under Section 31 (1) a of the Child Protection Act. The offence carries the penalty of 10 years imprisonment or a RM20,000 fine or both.
"Through the Child Protection Act, the law states that children have their rights and are protected. Conventional punishment such as caning and abuse no longer give one immunity," he added.