SEREMBAN: The High Court has granted bail to five family members charged with kidnapping a 16-year-old girl.
Defence lawyer T. Harpal Singh informed Sessions Court judge Surita Budin of the decision when the case was mentioned.
Harpal said the High Court allowed each accused to be released on RM15,000 bail with two sureties, both of whom must be family members.
He added that the accused were also ordered to surrender their passports (if any), stay away from the victim and prosecution witnesses, obtain a court order before leaving the district, and report to the nearest police station once a month until the case is concluded.
On May 14, the Sessions Court had initially denied them bail.
D. Sasveena, 31, T. Boharaj, 32, Farhin Muhamad Ariffin, 23, and siblings P. K. Koshenn Kumar, 21, and P. K. Siveeshinaa, 23, had all claimed trial when they were charged on April 24.
They are jointly accused of kidnapping the teenager to demand a RM2 million ransom.
The alleged offence took place 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 together with Section 34 of the Penal Code. If convicted, they face a minimum of 30 years in prison and whipping.
During proceedings today, deputy public prosecutor Norazhiah Asmuni told the court that the prosecution had handed over all relevant documents to the defence, except the forensic CCTV report, the victim’s medical report, and the mobile phone reports of the accused.
Judge Surita then fixed Aug 5 for the submission of the remaining documents.
On April 14, police shot dead a man in Bandar Bukit Tinggi, Klang, Selangor, believed to be involved in the kidnapping.
