Baby Dumping Essay

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BABY DUMPING KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 20 — Police say a majority of baby-dumping cases involve Malays which observers say is the result of the stigma of illegitimate children and the community being ill-equipped to deal with unwanted pregnancies. While there is no actual racial breakdown available because it is often difficult to determine the race of the babies, police say anecdotal evidence and prosecutions show the majority involve Malays. Police say 13 out of 65 cases involving the dumping of newborns have resulted in prosecutions. All of the accused were Malays. A total of 67 cases were recorded in 2005, 83 cases in 2006, 76 in 2007, 102 in 2008 and 79 in 2009. ACP Hamidah Yunus, deputy director of the CID’s sexual, abuse and children’s investigations division in Bukit Aman, said the actual racial composition could not be given as most cases were unsolved due to a lack of evidence. “All the 13 who have been charged (this year) are Malays... the ones we cannot solve we do not know, most of the babies found look Malay, but they are actually Indonesians, Vietnamese and Nepalese... we do not know until we figure out who threw these babies away,” Hamidah told The Malaysian Insider. Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Welfare Department told The Malaysian Insider that it was hard to determine the identity or race of the babies who were dumped. “We cannot really determine the race of the babies who have been abandoned. We can differentiate through their skin colour and facial features. But if a baby is already dead when we find them, it is difficult to determine,” said the spokesman. It is hard to determine the identity or race of the babies who were dumped, says the Welfare Department. Cases of babies being abandoned have increased from 65 cases in 2005 to 79 cases last year. On average, eight abandoned babies were found each month this year. Hamidah blamed
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