KUCHING, Jan 19 — A religious teacher has claimed trial here to two charges of committing gross indecency against two male students, age 18 and 19.
The 31-year-old accused pleaded not guilty before Sessions Court Judge Marutin Pagan this morning and was released on bail of RM1,500 with a local surety for each charge
The court set February 19 for case management.
Under the first charge, the religious teacher was accused of touching the 19-year-old student’s buttocks with his private parts at 3am sometime in August, last year, in a house in Petra Jaya
For the second charge, he allegedly touched the private parts of the 18-year-old student at 8pm in October 2020 in a house in the same area.
It is understood that the two victims were his students.
The accused was charged under Section 377D of the Penal Code which carries a jail term of up to two years, if convicted.
Earlier, lawyer Abdul Rahman Mohd Hazmi, who represented the accused, applied for his client to be given bail, explaining that he was a junior officer in a government agency and was not a flight risk.
The prosecution was conducted by Deputy Public Prosecutor Nadratun Naim Mohd Saidi. — Borneo Post
