SHAH ALAM, April 25 — Two policemen today pleaded not guilty at the Magistrate’s Court here on the charge of purposely not arresting a man suspected of raping a four-year-old girl in Sungai Buloh on April 14.
Lance corporal Shafie Sudiman, 31, from Sungai Buloh, near here and lance corporal Mohd Nazlee Mohamad Yusof, 38, from Kampung Melayu Subang, here made the plea after the charge was read to them before magistrate Farah Azura Mohd Saad.
According to the charge, they were both accused as public servants who were bound by the law but deliberately did not arrest a male Cambodian national, Koew Tourn, at the Sungai Pelong Police Station, Sungai Buloh, at 5 am on April 14.
Both policemen were charged under Section 221 read together with Section 34 of the Penal Code and punishable under Section 221 (b) of the same code, which provides for a maximum prison sentence of three years and could also be fined upon conviction.
Farah Azura released them on a bail of RM3,000 with one surety each and fixed May 25 for remention of the case.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Nurulhuda Ramli appeared for the prosecution while both policemen were represented by counsel Datuk Ahmad Zaharil Muhaiyar and Nurfadhilah Zahari.
The press previously reported that the victim was said to have been raped by the suspect at 1 am before he was caught by members of the public.
Two policemen in a patrol car later arrived at the location and detained the suspect and took him to the Sungai Pelong Police Station.
However, the two policemen were said to have decided on their own to release the suspect because the victim’s mother did not lodge a police report as they were foreign nationals and did not have valid personal identification documents.
A police report was later lodged by a government hospital doctor on the same day after examining the child who was taken by her mother for treatment after the victim complained of pain on her private part. — Bernama
