SEREMBAN: A 47-year-old religious teacher has been sentenced to seven years’ jail after he was found guilty of committing physical sexual assault against his 13-year-old student.
Sessions Court judge Surita Budin also ordered Farid Azhar Nawi to serve another two years in jail and to be given two strokes of the cane for betraying the trust given to him as a teacher.
However, she ordered both sentences to run concurrently.
"After perusing the evidence before the court, statements by witnesses, the aggravating and mitigating factors, the court, on a maximum evaluation, hereby finds the accused guilty of the offence.
"The defence has failed to raise a reasonable doubt in this case and the court finds that the accused's claims were mere denials and an afterthought," she said.
Farid Azhar was charged with committing the offence at 5.30pm on Aug 4, 2022 in the surau of a school in Senawang.
He was charged under Section 14(a) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017, read together with Section 16(c).
Section 14(a) carries a jail term of up to 20 years and caning upon conviction while Section 16(c) provides imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years and a minimum of two strokes of the cane.
Surita said the testimonies by the student witnesses were also consistent and had not been made up.
"Also, the claim by the defence that the school was planning to fix him up was only an assumption.
"Although there were child witnesses, there were only minor discrepancies in their testimonies and these were not in any way detrimental to the case," she said.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Norazihah Asmuni asked the court to impose a sentence as a deterrent to both the accused and the public.
"The accused had committed a serious crime against his student during religious lessons in the school surau.
"The court has to impose a sentence which commensurate with the crime as the number of such cases against children was on the increase," she said.
Lawyer Nor Azleen Khairina A. Aziz pleaded for a light sentence as this was the accused's first offence.
She said the accused had to provide for his two wives and five children as well as a younger brother who was autistic.
"If the court imposes a long jail term, this could affect the well-being of his family.
"Also, the accused had cooperated with the authorities from day one and had always been respectful of the law," she said.
Nor Azleen also asked the court for a stay as the accused would be appealing the decision.
Judge Surita allowed this despite an objection from the prosecution.
However, she raised bail from RM8,000 to RM20,000 and ordered the accused to report at the nearest police station once every month till the case is disposed of and to surrender his passport to the court.
