KUALA LUMPUR: The Rumah Bonda founder who was ordered to enter her defence today told the Sessions Court that she has been receiving death threats since her court case began.
Siti Bainun Ahd Razali, 31, who is facing charges of neglect and abuse, said she was put under public scrutiny after a video of a Down syndrome teenager known as Bella went viral in 2020.
The video showed Bella with many burnt scars on her body.
The accused said she feared for her life, claiming that a nurse had intended to harm her when she was hospitalised recently.
Siti Bainun, in defending herself, said prosecution witness Zurianty Sudin, who recorded Bella's video, had been one of her close friends.
She told Sessions Court judge Izralizam Sanusi that she had been friends with Zurianty for years.
"I am close with her and her children. In fact, she always sent her children to stay with me, sometimes overnight for days.
"I love her children as much as I love my own. There was a time when Zurianty and her children stayed with me in 2017. I took care of her children's needs, including their school supplies. Not one sen was paid by Zurianty and I also did not ask for it."
Siti Bainun, who was unrepresented, stopped when she could not control her tears.
The accused, however, refused to take a break and continued telling the court that Zurianty had never shown any care towards Bella.
"If you look at our conversations, not once did she ask about Bella.
"She never came to my house to look after Bella. Which is why I was surprised when she appeared at my house in June 2021, when I was not home."
She rubbished Zurianty's testimony in court where she claimed that Siti Bainun's house in Irama Wangsa Condominium, Wangsa Maju, here, was unsafe for children.
"The issue of my house being unsafe has never been reported to police, nor included in anything related to the charges thrown at me. I don't know where Zurianty got the idea from.
"In fact, Zurianty accompanied me to view a few houses before I chose the unit.
"If my place is unsafe, then all the units in the building are not safe.
"If my house is so unsafe, why would Zurianty send her kids to visit me, and stayed at my house for days? This shows that she has always had the bad intention to fabricate stories about me."
Siti Bainun, on Nov 24 last year, was ordered to enter her defence against two charges of neglecting and abusing a Down syndrome victim referred to as Bella, 13, to the point that she suffered physical and emotional injuries.
The offences were allegedly committed at a condominium in Wangsa Maju here between February and June 2021.