PETALING JAYA: A 19-year-old woman has been sentenced to a month in jail and fined RM5,000 by the Kota Kinabalu magistrates' court for inducing her own miscarriage.
Magistrate Marilyn Kelvin convicted the woman after she pleaded guilty to a charge under Section 312 of the Penal Code, The Borneo Post reported.
She was also ordered to serve eight months in jail if she failed to pay the fine.
The offence took place at a rented house in Kota Kinabalu on May 15.
According to the facts of the case, the student, who was 15 weeks' pregnant, had sought treatment at a hospital's emergency unit after experiencing bleeding.
She had taken 11 tablets of 200mcg Misoprostol (Cytotec) orally and inserted three more tablets into her vagina.
Investigations found that she had taken the medication to terminate the pregnancy because she was not ready to become a mother. She and her boyfriend had agreed to the abortion.
Jagnesh Jaya represented the woman, while deputy public prosecutor Ronnie Anthony prosecuted.