MIRI: A 20-year-old man from Pujut Adong here on Thursday was remanded for six days by the Magistrate’s Court to assist police probe into a child molesting case.
The remand order was issued by Magistrate Kasyfurrahman Abang Ahmad when the accused was brought to the court complex.
Inspector Nur Hasanah Jamil prosecuted while the accused was not represented. He will be produced to the court again on May 8.
Intially, Inspector Nur Hasanah applied for a seven-day remand but the Magistrate’s Court granted six days.
The offence is framed under Section 14(a) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017 for physical sexual assault on a child or children. Upon conviction, the suspect is liable for a jail sentence of up to 20 years and whipping.
According to the case facts, the accused was arrested on May 1 (Labour Day) by security personnel of a shopping mall at Jalan Post here at 3.35pm on suspicion of sexually molesting two girls aged seven and five inside a men’s toilet.
He was earlier spotted bringing the two children into a toilet located at the first level of a shopping mall.
The suspicious on-duty security guard, who spotted the accused entering the toilet with the kids, immediately followed him. Other security personnel were also informed.
Upon entering the toilet, they heard the two girls crying inside and begging for the suspect to let them go.
The security guards immediately asked the accused to unlock the door but to no avail, thereby forcing them to climb over the wall to apprehend him.
A mobile police vehicle was summoned to the scene of the incident.
The accused was later handed over to the police for further action.
