MELAKA: A 73-year-old man claimed trial in the Sessions Court in Ayer Keroh here to two charges of physically sexually assaulting two young girls inside a mosque storeroom.
The plea of Aziz Mohammad @ Teh Eng Guan, was recorded before Judge Raja Noor Adilla Raja Mahyaldin on Tuesday (June 30).
The accused was charged with sexually assaulting a 10-year-old girl by allegedly touching her private parts, hugging and kissing both her cheeks on June 15.
He also faced a second charge of committing a similar offence against an eight-year-old girl by allegedly hugging and kissing both her cheeks on June 22.
Both offences were allegedly committed at about 1.05pm in the storeroom of a mosque in Semabok in the Melaka Tengah district.
The charges were framed under Section 14(a) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017, which carries imprisonment of up to 20 years and whipping upon conviction.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Rif'ah 'Izzati Abdul Mutalif proposed bail of RM25,000 for both charges, with additional conditions that the accused must not interfere with the victims or prosecution witnesses and must report to a police station once a month.
Counsel Amritpal Singh, representing the accused, appealed for lower bail, saying his client was supporting a daughter with autism.
He also told the court that his client suffered from chronic diabetes, had no fixed income and depended on earnings from helping out at the mosque.
The court set the bail at RM10,000 with one surety and imposed the additional conditions requested by the prosecution.
The next mention of the case was fixed for July 29.
The media previously reported that Melaka police chief Deputy Comm Datuk Dzulkhairi Mukhtar said the case involved two female pupils from a primary school near the mosque.
He said the girls were believed to have been waiting at the mosque compound for their parents after school.
DCP Dzulkhairi said the suspect, a regular congregant at the mosque, had allegedly lured the victims with RM5 and instant fried noodles before taking them into the storeroom.
