Melaka: Police have detained a man and his 17-year-old girlfriend for allegedly concealing a birth and aborting a 22-week-old foetus. State police chief Datuk Dzulkhairi Mukhtar reported that the case came to light after a medical officer at Melaka Hospital alerted authorities to a teenage girl who arrived at the hospital around 6.50 pm on April 25, with heavy bleeding and signs of a miscarriage.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, the girl reportedly took abortion pills, which led to severe bleeding due to the placenta not being expelled. The girl informed authorities that the foetus was lifeless and had been buried by her boyfriend at an unknown location. Police arrested the boyfriend around 11.40 pm on April 25, and the girl was taken into custody at about 3.15 pm the following day after her discharge from the hospital. Both suspects have no prior criminal records and tested negative for drugs.

Police suspect that the couple planned the abortion using pills. Dzulkhairi stated that the male suspect retrieved the foetus from the girl's house and intended to bury it behind his home, initially hiding it in a car parked at his house. The case is being investigated under Section 318 of the Penal Code, which could lead to up to two years' imprisonment, a fine, or both.

The deputy public prosecutor has directed that the man be charged under Section 318, while the girl will face charges under Section 315. Both individuals are scheduled to be charged at the Ayer Keroh Court on May 8.