The National Registration Department (NRD) has admitted that 'physical differences' between a 12-year-old girl and her mother had caused delays in the former’s MyKad application.

The girl was said to have attempted suicide by consuming bleach after she was taunted by peers for not having a MyKad. She is now recuperating at the Ipoh Hospital.

NRD director general Jariah Mohd Said said the application would have been approved last Wednesday had the mother kept her appointment with the Perak NRD.

“... (It) ... had by then verified the parental ties,” she reportedly told The Star .

“We conducted our own investigation and found that the girl was really her daughter and were prepared to process the application. But instead of going to NRD, the mother went to third parties (to complain).”

The NRD's refusal to approve the application was based on differences observed in the skin tone of the girl and her mother.

It then reportedly insisted on a DNA test although the girl's parentage had been proven through her birth certificate.