Magistrate Court throws out application for prosecutor to explain dismissal of sexual abuse case

IPOH: A Magistrate’s Court here dismissed an application to call a deputy public prosecutor to explain why the investigation paper into a sexual abuse case involving a minor at a tahfiz school was closed, with no suspects identified.

Magistrate Mohammad Afifi Mohammad Deen made the decision after the court was provided with a letter from the Perak Legal Advisor’s Office under Article 145 (3) of the Federal Constitution.

The family’s lawyer Asiah Abd Jalil said under the article, the AG has his sole discretion, and nobody can question him, not even the court.

“It only empowers the AG with the discretion to institute, conduct or discontinue any proceedings for an offence.

“We have exhausted all avenues to get answers as to why the case was marked as “No further action”, ” she told reporters outside the court here.

The three-year-old case was heard inside the chambers. The court order was issued under Section 135 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC).

In August 2016, the boy’s mother had lodged two police reports, alleging that her son, then 10 years old, was consistently sexually abused together with other students by their seniors in the tahfiz school in Majoi, near here.

The case had received the attention of former TV celebrity Wardina Safiyyah and social activist Syed Azmi Alhabshi, who highlighted the case on social media in November 2016.

Celebrity preacher Datuk Kazim Elias then owned the school.

In August this year, the boy’s mother had filed a complaint under the aforementioned Section 377E and Section 14 (a) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017.

The court had then acknowledged that an offence did take place, and after going through the case inside the chambers, the magistrate set today (Oct 14) to call the DPP to explain why the investigation paper was closed previously with no suspects identified.

The decision made by the Magistrate’s Court then was under Section 128 of the Criminal Procedure Code, where a magistrate may take cognisance of an offence.

When met outside the court, the boy’s mother Johanna Sarah Harun Ronald, 37, said she was disappointed with the outcome.

“The system has failed me, and my son especially. I am contemplating to take a civil suit against the school for negligence.

“My son is now 13, and he needs to visit a child psychiatrist at a government hospital until the year 2021 to seek counselling and for traumatic treatment, ” said the mother of four boys.