PUTRAJAYA: A former school van driver has been acquitted and discharged by the Sessions Court here on a charge of committing physical sexual assault against an eight-year old boy at a condominium in 2022.
Judge Datin Kunasundary Marimuthu freed Na Li Jing, 34, at the close of the defence case on Monday (April 27), finding that reasonable doubt had been raised against the prosecution's case.
In her ruling, judge Kunasundary found that the accused had only begun renting the condominium in 2024, not in 2022 as stated in the charge, a fact supported by an independent witness whom the court found to be truthful, firm and consistent in his testimony.
"Hence, how could the alleged sexual assault have taken place? Are the premises stated in the charge correctly attributed to the accused? In this case, the report of sexual assault was lodged several years later, and the victim was a young child.
"Surely, the investigating officer (IO) bears a greater responsibility to ensure that all aspects of the case are properly and thoroughly investigated, including verifying the ownership or occupancy of the premises where the alleged offence is said to have occurred.
"It has been reiterated time and again that the duty of an IO is to gather all evidence, both for and against the suspect, to ensure a fair trial and the proper administration of justice.
"However, in this case, it appeared that the IO merely recorded statements from the witnesses before proceeding to charge the accused.
"In essence, upon a comprehensive evaluation of the evidence before this court, the court finds that the defence has succeeded in raising reasonable doubt as to the veracity and occurrence of the charge faced by the accused, and the prosecution has failed to establish its case beyond a reasonable doubt.
"Hence, the accused is discharged and acquitted of the charge," she said.
Na was charged under Section 14 (a) of the Sexual Offences against Children Act 2017 with committing the offence against the boy at a condominium in the Petaling district, Selangor, between Oct 7 and 8, 2022.
The charge was brought on June 11 last year and he was ordered to enter his defence on Feb 20 this year. – Bernama
