SEREMBAN: The Sessions Court here has refused to grant bail to five members of a family charged with kidnapping a 16-year-old girl and demanding a RM2mil ransom.
Judge Surita Budin made the decision when the matter came up for mention 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 PK Koshenn Kumar, 21; and PK Siveeshinaa, 23; claimed trial when charged on April 24.
They were jointly charged with kidnapping the girl and demanding a RM2mil ransom.
The offence occurred in front of a hair salon on Jalan S2 B10, Uptown Avenue Seremban 2, at 5.45pm on April 10.
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 it 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, assisted by Norazihah Asmuni, said the female suspects should not be offered bail as one of them allegedly masterminded the kidnapping.
Low Carmen, who appeared for all the accused, pleaded for bail, especially for the two female accused.
“At this point, there’s no proof that one of the female suspects masterminded the alleged crime,” she said.
The media had reported that those involved in the kidnapping hid the victim in a suitcase to avoid detection while moving the victim to a house.
On April 14, police shot dead a man in Bandar Bukit Tinggi, Klang, Selangor, believed to be one of the kidnappers.
