MELAKA: A 33-year-old single mother claimed trial at the Magistrate’s Court in Ayer Keroh here to two counts of possessing obscene material and circulating an edited nude image of a woman through social media.
The plea of accused TV Pavithra was recorded before magistrate Sharda Shienha Mohd Suleiman yesterday.
Based on the first charge, she was allegedly found with obscene material stored in her phone at an apartment in Kota Laksamana Jaya at 6.15pm on June 28.
The offence was framed under Section 290 of the Penal Code, which carries a maximum penalty of three years’ imprisonment, a fine, or both, upon conviction.
Under the second charge, the accused was alleged to have used social media to disseminate an edited nude image of a 36-year-old woman, an act likely to cause harassment, distress, fear or anxiety to the victim.
The alleged offence was committed at a house in Taman Melaka Raya in Melaka Tengah district at about 11pm on June 24.
Pavithra was charged under Section 507B of the Penal Code, which provides for a jail term of up to three years, a fine, or both, if convicted.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Syaza Nur Sharif requested the court to set bail of RM10,000 with an additional condition that the accused refrain from contacting the victim and prosecution witnesses until the end of the proceeding.
Lawyer Muhammad Izzuddin Ab Malek, representing the accused, appealed for a lower bail, stating that Pavithra is a single mother raising a child on an income of about RM2,000 a month.
He also told the court that the accused is the sole breadwinner for her mother and a younger sibling who has physical and mental disabilities.
The court set the bail at RM5,000 with one surety and fixed Aug 5 as the re-mention date.
