Ipoh man pleads guilty to molesting Spanish tourist

IPOH: A sundry shop assistant pleaded guilty at a Magistrate’s Court here to molesting a Spanish tourist last week.

The accused Muhammad Aiman Danial Mohd Najib, 22, pleaded to the crime after the charge was read before Magistrate Siti Nora Sharif on Tuesday (Jan 30).

He was fined RM5,000 in default of one month’s jail for the offence.

He was also charged under Section 292 of the Penal Code with having pornographic material on his mobile phone.

For that offence, he was fined RM2,000 in default of one month’s jail.

According to the charge sheet, the accused is alleged to have used criminal force against the 22-year-old female victim from Spain on Jan 24 at about 7pm at Lorong Seni @Lorong Panglima near the Sultan Idris Shah mosque here.

He was charged under Section 354 of the Penal Code with using force with intent to outrage the victim's modesty, and offenders can be jailed for up to 10 years or fined or whipped or given any of the two punishments upon conviction.

For the second charge, according to the charge sheet when he was arrested on Jan 25 at Jalan C.M Yusoff at 6pm, police found a pornography video in his mobile phone.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Nur Aqilah Syaza Ariffin requested a hefty sentence after taking into consideration the emotional effects caused to the victim.

The accused represented by National Legal Aid Foundation (YBGK) lawyer Robert Gnanarajan asked for a minimum sentence as he said that his client pleaded guilty to the crimes, and has promised never to repeat the act again.

According to the facts of the case, the victim and her friend were followed by the accused until the location of the incident before the accused asked if he could take a photograph with the victim’s friend.

Later while taking a photograph with the victim, the accused gripped the victim’s shoulder tightly, before he started to fondle her breasts.

The victim who was in a state of shock pushed the accused away and started to scream, resulting in the accused running away.

The victim’s friend managed to take a photo of the accused.