While many people consider babies as a blessing from God, there are others who consider them a burden and a shame.

The situation has reached a worrying state where babies are abandoned in the most unbelievable manner by their mothers in rivers, rubbish dumps and even mosques.

Some newborns make it and some die while others are killed before being dumped.

This are acts born out of fear and a sense of helplessness of young adults who conceive out of wedlock, a problem that needs to be addressed urgently without the constant pumping of hot air that follows such tragic events.

According to the Utusan Malaysia , the Welfare Department (JKM) had recorded 50 abandoned baby cases from January to September 2008, with Malay couples accounting for 36.

sisters in islam anti book banning book burning campaign 190808 marina mahathir As social activist Marina Mahathir ( left ) points out, society has to accept the fact that there will be cases of young girls becoming pregnant outside marriage, so their safe pregnancy and delivery must be ensured.

" Many young unmarried people are having sex but no idea about contraception. We as a society have to take some responsibility for this.

Why punish the mothers

The number of abandoned baby cases has since January reached 12 which includes the recent dumping at Sungai Choh, Hulu Selangor and clearly this not going to end if effective measures are not taken.

Asked if it was fair to punish the women responsible , Marina said:

" It would be unfair to punish the woman and not the man who made her pregnant."

However, she is against punishing anyone unless it's incest or rape.

Concurring Zaid Kamaruddin, president of Jamaah Islah Malaysia (JIM) pointed out that although in Islam, premarital sex as well as abortion or baby dumping are considered sins, the mother or the father should not be blamed or punished.

"The mother could have been raped, duped,or underaged when agreeing to sex, but as a caring society we should give them a chance to repent."

Zaid also believes a aid channel should be provided for these mothers to seek help.

"There should be a programe that helps these mothers to do the right thing instead of committing something that is sinful."

Sex at very young age

A 23 year old who conceived and aborted twice out of wedlock, considers premarital sex as fine so long as both parties know the risks involved.

"Whether we admit or not, many women lose their virginity at a very young age.

" I got pregnant twice when I was only 17 and 19. I discontinued the pregnancies as I was too young and didn't want to shame my parents," she said.

The woman who aborted the pregnancies at early stages, said that the feeling of guilt still haunts her.

Marina similarly said that whether the society accepts premarital sex or not, it's going to happen.

"We might as well accept that reality and deal with making the consequences safe. That woud be a sign of an intelligent compassionate society."

zaid kamaruddin interview interfaith 010606 pointing out Both Marina and Zaid ( right ) agreed that having a proper gender-sensitive and judgementless sex education in schools would be good.

"Talking about contraceptives to young people, helping women who get into trouble, educating our boys to take responsibility would be big steps forward," she said.

Zaid said proper counseling is very important to give these women choices about what options they had when they became pregnant.