Abstract

UNFITNESS TO PLEAD AMONG FEMALE OFFENDERS: WHEN LOOSENESS MATTERS

Objective: Pritchard Criteria are adopted in a Malaysian criminal-justice system while assessing fitness to plead. There is limited data on the reason of unfitness to plead for female offenders in Malaysia. Methods: A case series of five patients hospitalized to Hospital Bahagia Ulu Kinta, Malaysia due to unfitness to plead was presented and discussed. Result: The offences include three homicides, one assault, and one stealing. All of them were diagnosed to have schizophrenia with prominent looseness of association. Four of them subsequently treated as Treatment-Resistant Schizophrenia (TRS) with a minimal response toward clozapine. Conclusion: Looseness of association may be a contributing factor for unfitness to plead among Malaysian female offenders, which can result in indeterminate hospitalization. This should be confirmed in a larger prospective study.