Mother of chained boy needs to undergo counseling - Pahang Exco

The mother of 10-year-old boy who was chained to a gas cylinder on Thursday was urged to meet the counselor at the Social Welfare Department (JKM) to share her problems.

Pahang Women, Family Development, Communications and Multimedia Development committee chairman Datuk Shahaniza Shamsuddin said discussions with a counselor was important to ensure the issue could be resolved well.

"I hope she can meet JKM officers. She can also meet our counselors to tell her side of the story and share with us what the real problem is," she said after meeting with Bernama senior staff at Wisma Bernama, here on Monday.

The victim, who is the third of five siblings, was found chained by the neck to a gas cylinder using a padlock after police broke into the house at Indera Mahkota 1, Kuantan, on Thursday.

The victim, who is still being treated at the Tengku Ampuan Afzan Hospital, was said to be treated so by his stepfather who is a soldier, for coming home late.

READ: Chained boy gets to meet his biological father

The media also reported that the victim's 37-year-old mother was living in fear after being heavily criticised by the community, and she locked herself in, refusing to step out of her home after being released on police bail.

To ease the issue, Shahaniza also called on members of the public not to interfere with the family and to leave it to the police to carry out the investigation.

"We do not know what was really going on. Sure, we found the boy chained on his neck, but just let the court decides on the matter.

"Perhaps the mother went out to check on her other children. If we look at it negatively, we will probably trigger another problem later on," she said.

READ: Victim admits mistake causing stepfather to chain him to gas tank

READ: Parents in child abuse cases maybe compelled to attend counseling

Meanwhile, Shahaniza said her visit to Bernama yesterday, among others, was to discuss collaboration between the state government and the national news agency.

"We discussed about collaboration that we could implement to highlight any related activities so that people will be accurately informed on government activities," she said.

--BERNAMA