Day in court: Chai arriving for his case in Johor Baru.
JOHOR BARU: A 25-year-old auto parts store employee has been charged at a Sessions Court here with setting his wife’s car on fire during a marital spat.
Chai Kaw Fung was accused of torching his 21-year-old wife’s vehicle along the busy Jalan Tebrau, in front of a private hospital here, at around 10.20pm on Feb 2, causing her to suffer financial losses.
After the charge was read out to him before judge Thalha Bachok @ Embok Mok yesterday, Chai pleaded not guilty to the offence of committing mischief by fire.
The offence, framed under Section 435 of the Penal Code, carries a jail term of up to 14 years and a fine upon conviction.
Deputy public prosecutor Siti Fatimah Mamu offered bail at RM20,000 and ordered the accused to report to the nearest police station once a month, surrender his passport and refrain from harassing the victim and witnesses.
Chai’s lawyer Goh Sze Han asked for lower bail of RM5,000, saying that the accused has to support his two-year-old child and elderly parents with a monthly salary of RM3,000.
Goh also asked the court not to withhold Chai’s passport as his job requires him to pick up products from Singapore.
Judge Thalha allowed bail at RM8,000 and ordered Chai to surrender his passport to the court, besides imposing the two other conditions requested by the prosecution.
The court also set March 11 for next mention and submission of documents.
Earlier, a video of the incident went viral on social media, in which an irate man is seen blocking a woman’s car with his multi-purpose vehicle before pouring petrol on the bonnet and torching it.
Johor Baru South OCPD Asst Comm Raub Selamat previously said the suspect and victim had a misunderstanding and that the four occupants in the car escaped unharmed.
