PARIT, Sept 22 — A 63-year-old man was fined RM2,500 by the Magistrate’s Court here today after pleading guilty to a charge of intending to outrage a woman’s modesty by touching and pinching her cheek at a grocery store.
Magistrate Nurul Izalina Rajaai meted out the fine, in default six months in prison, on Samsuri Kamaruddin, who then paid the fine.
Before imposing the fine, the magistrate reminded Samsuri that he had committed an offence by inappropriately touching the woman.
“The court wishes to explain that this (touching the woman) is wrong. It is wrong for you as an adult, a man of senior citizen age. Everyone has acquaintances, but we must maintain boundaries.
With anyone who is not our mahram, we should not touch their cheeks, hands, or any part of the body. What you did not only outrage the modesty of the victim but also brought shame to your own family,” she said.
The man was charged with using criminal force on a 23-year-old woman with the intention of outraging her modesty, at about 4 pm in a grocery store at Simpang 4 Bota Kanan last Sept 5.
The charge, framed under Section 354 of the Penal Code, provides a maximum 10-year prison sentence or a fine or whipping or any two of the sentences upon conviction.
Based on the facts of the case, while the victim was trying to make a payment at the checkout counter at the grocery store when the accused touched her left cheek twice. He touched and pinched the woman’s cheek again, even after she reprimanded him.
Following the incident, the woman was traumatised and afraid to go to work.
The prosecution was conducted by Deputy Public Prosecutor Wan Mohd Ameerul Nazhif Wan Zulfikri, while lawyer Nurul Syuhada Mohd Yusof represented the accused — Bernama
