JOHOR BARU: The senior citizen accused of slapping a man who was eating in public during Ramadan has been given a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA) at the Magistrate’s Court here.
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Abdul Razak Ismail, 65, was given a DNAA by Magistrate A. Shaarmini after Deputy Public Prosecutor Nur Fatihah Mohd Nizam told the court that she had received instructions from the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) for the case to be referred to the AGC.
The order came after the court set the next mention date for the case and was setting bail for the suspect.
Earlier, the court rejected the accused’s guilty plea after he disputed the facts of the case.
Abdul Razak pleaded guilty when the charge, framed under Section 323 of the Penal Code for voluntarily causing hurt to a 21-year-old man at a convenience store in a shopping mall at about 3.45pm on Sunday (March 16).
However, he did not agree with the facts of the case that were read out to him.
According to the facts of the case, there was bruising on the victim’s cheeks, confirmed by medical officers who examined the victim.
Abdul Razak disagreed, claiming he did not slap the victim hard enough to cause bruising.
This led Magistrate Shaarmini to reject his guilty plea.
"We do not accept a conditional guilty plea," said Shaarmini before setting the next case mention date.
However, when the court was setting bail, instructions came from the AGC to reclassify the case as DNAA.
On Sunday (March 16), two videos lasting 32 seconds and 44 seconds respectively of the alleged incident went viral on social media.
On Monday (March 17), Johor Baru North OCPD Asst Comm Balveer Singh confirmed that the police had received a report from the victim.
