Newborn left at mosque with note pleading for help

November 8, 2023

Newborn left at mosque with note pleading for help

KOTA KINABALU: An infant, barely a week old, was found abandoned here with a note presumably from her mother, pleading that the finder help the girl.

“I am sorry for not being able to care for this child. The circumstances are beyond my means to raise her,” read the note, which was found by Adzwan Eman, the imam of a mosque in Luyang.

Based on the note, the baby was born on Oct 31.

Adzwan, 28, said he had just arrived in his car with his wife and children when he heard noises coming from one side of the mosque.

“At the time, I thought it was a car or something because the mosque is situated close to houses,” he said.

He went to fetch a few things and found that the noise had grown louder.

“It sounded like a baby crying,” he said.

He tracked down the source of the sound and noticed a box left at a section of the mosque.

“I was shocked to see a baby wrapped in cloth inside a box.”
He said that he immediately took the baby, along with the note, into the mosque.

“I alerted our mosque members who then contacted the police,” Adzwan said.

Kota Kinabalu police chief Asst Comm Mohd Zaidi Abdulah said the baby appeared healthy.

“She has been sent to the Queen Elizabeth hospital for a check-up and observation.

“The case is being investigated under Section 317 of the Penal Code for abandoning a child under the age of 12,” he added.

He urged those with information to contact the investigating officer Insp Hatikah Ahmad at 016-833 7246.