A foreign worker from Nepal has become the first woman in Malaysia to be imprisoned for undergoing an abortion.
The Bukit Mertajam sessions court last month found Nirmala Thapa guilty of terminating her pregnancy and sentenced her to a year’s jail.
Nirmala, 24, was six weeks pregnant when she went to a clinic in Bukit Mertajam on mainland Penang for the abortion on October 9
It was reported that she was arrested at the clinic that day when the premises was checked by officers from the Health Ministry’s Private Medical Practice Control Unit (Ukaps) during a routine inspection.
Nirmala, who worked in a factory in Penang, was charged on October 13 under Section 315 of the Penal Code for allegedly preventing a child from being born alive.