PUTRAJAYA, Oct 31 — A teacher who is on suspension, was sentenced to six months’ jail and fined RM2,000, after he lost his final appeal at the Court of Appeal against his conviction for outraging the modesty of a Primary Six pupil.
Justice Datuk Yaacob Md Sam who led a three-member bench said the court found no appealable error on the part of the High Court and Magistrate’s Court in finding Zulkifli Hashim, 50, guilty of the offence.
The bench also comprising Justices Datuk Suraya Othman and Datuk Mohamad Zabidin Mohd Diah unanimously dismissed the appeal and upheld the conviction.
Justice Yaacob, however, allowed Zulkifli’s appeal on reducing his jail term from two years to six months, on the grounds that the two-year term was manifestly excessive.
The court maintained the RM2,000 fine, in default six months’ jail.
The jail term was to begin from today, taking into consideration the three months and 12 days’ jail Zulkifli had served when he was denied a stay of execution of the jail sentence by the Magistrate’s Court.
Zulkifli was subsequently given a stay of execution by the High Court pending his appeal to the Court of Appeal.
According to the charge sheet, Zulkifli had molested the 12-year-old girl in the classroom of a school in Jitra, Kedah, at 10am on March 2, 2014.
He was found guilty by the Magistrate’s Court and sentenced to two years jail and a fine of RM2,000. He lost his appeal at the High Court.
At the trial, the victim testified that during a ‘Pendidikan Sivik dan Kewarganegaraan’ class, the teacher had stood beside her and she felt him fondling her.
Deputy public prosecutor Jasmee Hameeza Jaafar appeared for the prosecution while Zulkifli was represented by lawyer Ariff Azami Hussein. — Bernama
