KLANG: Four teenagers, three of them underaged, have been charged at the Magistrates Court here for beating up a homeless man.
Chan Jia Jing, 19, from Bukit Tinggi here, and three others, who were all 16-year-olds, were accused of having used a metal baseball bat to beat-up P. Tharmarlingam, 67, at the five-foot way of a supermarket in Port Klang at 3.30am on May 8.
They were charged under Section 325 of the Penal Code for voluntarily causing grievous hurt, which was read together with Section 34 of the Penal Code.
If found guilty they can be jailed up to seven years and also fined. All four pleaded not guilty.
The charges were read in a closed courtroom before Magistrate P. Sarulatha, with only the fathers of the underaged teens and the surety for Chan present in the public gallery.
Chan worked at a wet market whilst the other three were still students.
DPP Nurul Jannah Aimi offered bail at RM4,000 each with the condition that the accused will not bother the victim again.
Tham Weng Kin, who represented all the accused, pleaded for a lower bail and Sarulatha set bail at RM2,000 each and fixed July 28 for the case to be mentioned.
Police zeroed in on the teens after their escapade was posted on social media.
In the video, one of the accused is seen luring a homeless man with money before assaulting him with the bat.
South Klang OCPD Asst Comm Cha Hoong Fong told reporters on Monday (June 5) that early investigations indicated three victims had been assaulted by the teens and efforts were underway to locate other victims.
According to the police, two of the four accused had previous police records.
