Principal acquitted over sexual assault charge

 

Former school principal Zainuren Mohamed thanking his lawyer, E Gnasegaran, outside the courtroom in Butterworth, Penang, today.

BUTTERWORTH: A former principal was acquitted of sexually assaulting an 11-year-old pupil at a school here in 2018 after the prosecution was found to have failed to establish a case against him.

Zainuren Mohamed, 58, was initially charged with committing the offence against four pupils from his school – two boys aged 13 and two others aged 11 and 14 – at the school premises between April 6 and Oct 10, 2018.

He pleaded not guilty to the charge under Section 14(a) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017.

The nature of the offence was not specified, which is typical of cases under the section. He later posted bail of RM57,000.

The prosecution later decided to drop three of the alleged victims from the charge last year – the two boys aged 13 and the 14-year-old boy.

In delivering her ruling at the end of the prosecution’s case today, sessions court judge Nooraini Mohamed Yunus freed Zainuren after finding that the statements of the witnesses were contradictory.

She said there was also a gap in the prosecution’s case, as it had failed to call a key witness who was the first to make the sexual assault claim.

Outside the courthouse, Zainuren’s lawyer, E Gnasegaran, said the ruling was fair as there were material discrepancies in the claims relating to time, place and how the alleged incident took place at the principal’s office and hostel.

He said the defence had also raised a revenge motive behind the sexual assault claims in court, adding that the allegations came after Zainuren took disciplinary action against a pupil and a teacher over a bullying case.

“The sexual assault claims came three days after the principal took disciplinary action against the pupil and teacher. The pupil was named the victim and the teacher was a witness in the trial.

“Even at the time of the arrest, there were allegations that the boys were sodomised, but they later denied such an incident took place during the trial. And a medical examination also showed no penetration or indication of sexual assault,” he said.

Zainuren, who was with his wife,  was grateful for the court decision.

Audrey Wee and Vikneshwaran Sehgar also represented the accused. - FMT