KUALA LUMPUR, April 30 — A couple was charged in the Selayang Sessions Court here today with abusing their maid and abandoning her in a jungle two weeks ago.

Shahrul Azyrin Ahmad, 30, and his wife Zulaikha Nordin, 26, pleaded not guilty to causing grievous hurt by beating the 22-year-old maid with an iron rod and a rotan.

Shahrul Azyrin, an Immigration officer and his wife, a housewife, were charged with committing the offence at their home at No. G28-08, Simfoni Heights Condo, Jalan Medan Selayang 2, Gombak here at 7.30pm on April 18.

The couple who have two daughters, aged three and six months, were charged under Section 326 of the Penal Code and are liable to be jailed up to 20 years and fined or whipped, if convicted.

They were also charged with trafficking the woman under the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants (ATIPSOM) Act 2007, which carries a jail term of not more than 20 years and fine, if convicted.

Judge Tasnim Abu Bakar allowed both accused bail at RM14,000 each in one surety each and ordered them to surrender their passports to the court and report themselves to the nearest police station twice a month.

The case was set for re-mention on May 18.

Deputy public prosecutor Sharifah Zulia Balqish Syed Agil appeared for the prosecution while the accused were by represented by lawyers Mohamad Zahid Ahmad and M. Sivam.

From the Sessions Court, the couple was brought to the Magistrate’s Court to face two other charges, the first hiring a maid without a valid permit under the Immigration Act.

For this, they are liable to be jailed 12 months or fined a maximum of  RM50,000 or both if convicted.

They were also accused of witholding the maid’s passport, an offence under the Passports Act, and can be jailed up to five years or fined a maximum of RM50,000, if convicted.

The couple, who were arrested on April 21, pleaded not guilty to both charges.

Magistrate Namirah Hanum Mohamed Albaki allowed both accused bail at RM12,000 each in one surety each with the same conditions as the Sessions Court. 

Newspapers had reported that the maid was found abandoned without food or water a day earlier in a forest near an Orang Asli village in Ulu Yam, Hulu Selangor. — Bernama