Off to court: The couple being taken to the Sessions Court to be charged.
SEREMBAN: A 44-year-old wireman claimed trial in the Sessions Court here to three charges of intentionally causing physical harm to his three stepsons with a weapon.
The accused pleaded not guilty after the charges were read to him separately before judges Surita Budin and N. Kanageswari.
He was charged with using a PVC pipe to cause injury to the boys aged 19, 16 and 15.
The offence is said to have taken place on Aug 15 at their house.
He was charged under Section 324 of the Penal Code for voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means, read together with Section 326A.
The offence carries a jail term of up to 10 years, or a fine, or whipping upon conviction.
Section 326A provides for a prison term twice as long as the maximum term under Section 324.
Deputy public prosecutor Norazihah Asmuni told Surita that her team was not offering bail to the accused as he may disturb the boys, who lived in the same house.
The victims, she claimed, had suffered soft tissue injuries after being allegedly hit by the accused.
If the court were to allow bail, she said her team was proposing RM50,000 for each charge.
The accused, in pleading for a lower bail, said he had no choice but to discipline the alleged victims as the older boys had a habit of vaping despite being told not to do so.
He said he had been providing for them for the past three years.
Surita then set bail at RM18,000 for two of the charges in one surety each and fixed Sept 24 for remention.
She also ordered the accused not to live in the same house with them and to report at the nearest police station once a month till the case is disposed of, as well as to surrender his passport to the court.
Kanageswari allowed the accused bail of RM15,000 with one surety for the third charge and ordered him to stay away from the alleged victims and witnesses.
Earlier, deputy public prosecutor Siti Khairiah Abdul Razak proposed bail at RM20,000 after informing the court that the full medical report of the alleged assault was not ready.
The accused, who was unrepresented, had also pleaded for a lower bail as he did not have an income at present and was a person with special needs as he could not bend his left leg following an accident.
Kanageswari fixed Sept 29 for remention.
The 39-year-old mother of the alleged victims was also charged before Kanageswari with causing hurt to her 16-year-old son with a knife at the same place and time.
She claimed trial to the charge.
The court fixed bail at RM15,000 in one surety and ordered her to adhere to the same conditions set for the first accused.
