TELUK INTAN, March 21 — A teacher of a primary school here was charged in the Sessions Court and the Magistrate’s Court today with seven counts of committing physical sexual assault on three of his male students and also with assaulting them with intent to outrage their modesty since seven years ago.
At the Sessions Court before judge Norita Mohd Ardani, Mohamad Shafie Abdul Rani, 51, pleaded not guilty to four counts of committing physical sexual assault on two of the students, both aged 11, at three different locations at Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Ayer Hitam here between May 2018 and January this year.
The charge, under Section 14(a) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017 and read together with Section 16(1) of the same law, provides an imprisonment for up to 20 years and whipping, if found guilty.
The prosecution was conducted by deputy public prosecutor Nur Azimah Che Ismail, while Mohamad Shafie was represented by lawyer Amir Khusyairi Mohamad Tanusi.
At the Magistrate’s Court, Mohamad Shafie was charged with three counts of using criminal force with intent to outrage the modesty of a student, who is now 18-years-old.
The offence was allegedly committed between 2012 and 2013 at SK Ayer Hitam and the Sungai Melintang In-service Teacher Training Centre in Hutan Melintang.
He pleaded not guilty to the charge before Magistrate Syahdatul Kamilah Zakaria.
The charges were made under Section 354 of the Penal Code, which provides an imprisonment for up to 10 years, or fine, or whipping, or any two of the punishments, if found guilty.
The prosecution in the case was conducted by prosecuting officer Inspector Nurul Hafizah Muhd Ariff.
No bail was offered and both courts fixed April 25 for mention. — Bernama
