IPOH: A secondary school teacher was charged in the Sessions Court here today with three counts of physical sexual assault against a student last year.
Airil Iswan Mat Shamsuri, 38, pleaded not guilty to all charges before judge Jean Sharmila Jesudason.
According to the first charge, the accused is alleged to have sexually assaulted a 17-year-old male student with the intention of a sexual act by hugging, kissing the student on the mouth, and touching his private part. The offence was allegedly committed in a house at Gerbang Meru Indah at 10.30am on Sept 13 last year.
For the second charge, Airil was accused of committing a similar act, including kissing the student’s cheeks, at the same location early in the morning on Sept 14 last year.
For the third charge, he was accused of sexually assaulting the same student by hugging him, kissing his mouth and cheeks, biting his neck, and caressing his private part. This offence was allegedly committed at the school’s warden room early in the morning on Sept 27 last year.
The charges were made under Section 14(a) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and caning, if convicted. The charges were also read with Section 16 of the same act, which provides an additional penalty of five years in prison and not less than two strokes of the rotan.
Deputy public prosecutor Siti Nur Amalina Harun offered bail of RM40,000 for all charges, with the additional condition that the accused not interfere with the victim and witnesses in the case.
However, Baldip Singh, the lawyer representing the accused, requested the court grant a minimum bail of RM15,000, stating that his client is the sole breadwinner of his family.
“This is my client’s first offence. He was arrested last year and later released on police bail. He has appeared in court today with his family. There is no risk of him absconding,” Baldip said, adding that his client is married with two school-going children aged eight and 10 and has been transferred to another school.
The court allowed bail of RM15,000 with one surety and the additional conditions that Airil report to the police station every month and not interfere with the victim and witnesses until the case is completed.
The court fixed Oct 24 for mention.
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