KUCHING: Police are investigating a case of child abuse based on a teenage girl’s report that her elder sister had been splashed with boiling water, locked in a bathroom and only given bread to eat since December last year.
The allegation by the younger girl came to light on Sunday.
The 13-year-old girl and her 14-year-old sister arrived here from Selangor last November to spend the school holidays with their aunt and uncle in their house at Matang Baru.
They started working at a petrol station in the city after being asked to do so by their uncle.
Some time in December, the aunt allegedly accused the elder sibling of stealing a make-up set, and threatened to beat her if she did not confess.
After forcing her to confess, the aunt allegedly splashed the girl with boiling water in front of her husband, who did not do anything to stop the abuse, before dragging her upstairs and locking her in a bathroom.
The scalded teen was allegedly locked inside the bathroom since that day, and was only given a sarong to wear and given a loaf of stale bread to eat each month.
The younger sister, who claimed she was recently beaten with a coat hanger by her aunt for accidentally spilling water on the floor, said her aunt would occasionally open the bathroom door to accuse the teen of having an affair with her husband.
The younger girl finally found the courage to reveal her sister’s plight to a male co-worker at the petrol station on Sunday, and sought his help to send her to the police station where she lodged a report.
Police are investigating.
District police chief ACP Roslan Bek Ahmad was unavailable for comment.