SEREMBAN: The Sessions Court here has refused to grant bail to five family members charged with kidnapping a 16-year-old girl for a RM2mil ransom.
Judge Surita Budin made the decision on Wednesday (May 14) when the matter came up for mention and after hearing submissions from counsel for the accused and the prosecution.
"The court is not allowing bail to the suspects. The case will be mentioned on June 9 for the submission of documents," she said.
D Sasveena, 31, T Boharaj, 32, Farhin Muhamad Ariffin, 23, and siblings P K Koshenn Kumar, 21, and P K Siveeshinaa, 23, claimed trial when charged on April 24.
They were jointly charged with kidnapping the victim to demand a RM2mil ransom.
The offence allegedly occurred in front of a hair salon on Jalan S2 B10, Uptown Avenue Seremban 2, at about 5.45pm on April 10.
They were charged under Section 3(1) of the Kidnapping Act 1961, read with Section 34 of the Penal Code.
If found guilty, they face a minimum sentence of 30 years in prison and whipping.
Earlier, deputy public prosecutor Nurul Balkis Zunaidi said bail should not be offered due to the seriousness of the crime and that it was a non-bailable offence.
"Although the court does have the discretion to offer bail, we are opposing this to prevent the possible tampering of prosecution witnesses.
"There are also no special or exceptional grounds why bail should be offered," she said.
Nurul Balkis, who was assisted by Norazihah Asmuni, said the women should also not be offered bail as one of them was allegedly the mastermind of the kidnapping.
Low Carmen, who appeared for all the accused, pleaded for bail, especially for the two female accused as this was provided for under section 388 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
"Also, at this point, there is no evidence to prove that one of the female suspects is the mastermind of the alleged crime," she said.
The media had previously reported that the criminals involved in the kidnapping hid the victim by placing her in a suitcase.
This was to avoid detection by authorities and the public while transferring the victim from the suspect's vehicle to a house where she was hidden.
On April 14, police shot dead a man in Bandar Bukit Tinggi, Klang, Selangor, believed to be involved in the kidnapping.
