Couple who roughed up MBSA officer gets 14-day jail term

A couple who was depicted in a viral video obstructing a Shah Alam City Council (MBSA) enforcer from carrying out her duties have been slapped with a 14-day jail sentence each.

The sentence was delivered by Shah Alam magistrate P Sarulatha today after the man Lor Ka Hoo, 35 and his wife Tan Sit Fun, 30, pleaded guilty to the charge under Section 353 of the Penal Code, as reported by Berita Harian.

Section 353 deals with those who used criminal force to deter a public servant from discharging his or her duties.

The magistrate also ordered a RM3,000 fine per person, failing which they would have to serve another seven days in jail.

However, they were released on RM2,000 bail each pending their appeal against the sentencing.

At a press conference earlier today, inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar said the couple would be probed for obstructing a civil servant in performing his or her duty and sexual harassment.

Khalid tweeted later that the couple had been arrested yesterday.

In the two-minute video, which has been shared more than 27,000 times on Facebook, a woman is shown grabbing the back of the enforcer's uniform, refusing to let her go while repeatedly asking, "Give me your name".

The MBSA officer, identified as Nurul Ain Isa, was also stopped from leaving by a man who planted himself on the other side of her, effectively trapping her between two parked cars.

The man appeared to be trying to take pictures of Nurul Ain as she tried to get the woman to let go of her uniform and leave.

"Look, you're the one who made my arm red," the woman said, her hand still grabbing the enforcer's uniform.

Other MBSA enforcers tried to get the couple to let go of her, even providing the Nurul Ain's name to them but to no avail.

Nurul Ain finally managed to squeeze herself between the cars and leave with her fellow enforcers, though the man trailed after them, insisting on taking at least one picture of her.

Netizens have expressed outrage over the video, with many commenting that the couple were being incredibly rude and called for legal action be taken against the duo.

On a popular local forum site, netizens took it one step further, and tracked down the alleged identity of the woman as well as the police report lodged by Nurul Ain.

In the police report, she said that she had issued a parking summons to the woman's car when the woman approached her and scolded her.

"I said I have already issued the summons and it cannot be cancelled.

"Then there was a fight between us, which was witnessed by my colleagues. The woman then brought a man to meet me and threatened to punch me and tried to bite my finger.

"Due to this, an altercation broke out and I decided to leave, but as I was leaving, the woman followed me.

"She grabbed the back of my shirt and she almost fell, though her phone did fall into the drain," Nurul Ain related in the report yesterday.

She also said that she went straight to the police station to lodge the report after leaving the scene.

"It was obvious that (they were) obstructing the civil servant from performing (her) duty. And, there was also element of sexual harassment," Khalid told reporters.

"I advise the public not to try to bully enforcement officers, particularly women officers who are performing their duty because we will take action against them," he warned.

Malaysiakini has contacted MBSA and is awaiting their response.- Mkini