Laundry cat killer gets 34 months jail time, fined RM40,000

SELAYANG: One of the laundry cat killers - who cruelly placed a pregnant cat into a dryer and turned it on last September - has been sentenced to 34 months in prison and fined RM40,000, in default four months in prison, at the Sessions Court here on Tuesday (Nov 5).

K. Ganesh, 42, who claimed trial to the offence, was pronounced guilty by Sessions Court Judge Rasyihah Ghazali.

Judge Rasyihah said that the prosecution had successfully proven its case against the accused beyond any reasonable doubt.

In her judgement, she said that the sentencing took into account the fact that Ganesh was the one who placed the cat into the dryer.

"The court takes into account that the accused was the party who placed the cat in the dryer and locked it.

"The sentence should serve as a lesson to the accused and to society at large not to be cruel to animals," she said.

Judge Rasyihah, however, allowed Ganesh's application for a stay of sentence by his counsel, with the accused's bail being increased from RM12,000 to RM20,000.

She also ordered any appeal for the sentence to be filed by Nov 12.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Nurul Ain Shafie and Selangor Veterinary Department Prosecuting Officer Roslan Mohd Isa stood for the prosecution, while counsel S. Muthuveeran represented Ganesh.

During mitigation earlier, the defence asked that the accused, a contract worker, be given a minimal prison sentence, as he could not afford to pay a fine.

"He only earns RM20 a day and is providing for his wife and child as well as his father, who is a person with disability after his leg was amputated due to diabetes," said Muthuveeran.

He added that this was also Ganesh's first offence.

The prosecution, however, argued that the accused's cruel act towards an innocent and defenceless cat warranted a harsh sentence.

Roslan said the accused's behaviour showed that he has no regard for the life of an animal.

"We have always seen this act as a result of the accused's attitude of not giving any regards to the life of the cat or to see a cat as a living being.

"Animals have the right to live and their welfare should be taken care of," he said.

Ganesh and two others, taxi driver A. Mohanraj, 42, and technician SS Satthiya, 26, had all claimed trial last year to the offence, committed between 12.54am and 1am on Sept 11,2018 at a self-service laundry in Taman Gombak Ria, Batu Caves here.

All three were charged under Section 29(1)(e) of the Animal Welfare Act 2015.

The charge, which is punishable under Section 29(1) of the same Act; and read together with Section 34 of the Penal Code, carries a maximum fine of RM100,000 or a jail term of up to three years, or both, upon conviction.

It was reported that Mohanraj - who later changed his plea to guilty - was sentenced to two years' jail for the offence, while Satthiya had received a discharge not amounting to an acquittal.

According to the statement of the facts, a launderette manager received a call from a female customer on Sept 11,2018, informing him that there was a carcass of a pregnant cat in a dryer.

Upon examination of the dryer by his employee, the cat's carcass was discovered.

Closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage showed two men, one of whom took the cat out from under a table in the launderette and threw it into the dryer.

Both of the men then inserted tokens into the dryer before exiting the launderette.

The manager then lodged a police report on Sept 14 and the perpetrators were arrested on the same day.

The CCTV footage of the cruel act went viral on social media, raising the ire of Malaysians who had asked for the perpetrators to be punished.

The prosecution provided eight witnesses during the trial while only Ganesh stood as witness for defence for the trial, which started on April 3,2019.