ENT specialist sentenced to 7 years’ jail, 7 strokes for sexual assault

 Kuala Terengganu court finds 42-year-old guilty of physical sexual assault against a young male patient at a clinic in a private hospital.

The Kuala Terengganu sessions court sentenced Dr Safwan Soffian to five years’ jail and one stroke of the cane on each of the first six charges, and seven years’ jail and one stroke of the cane on the seventh charge, with the sentences to run concurrently.

KUALA TERENGGANU:

An ENT specialist at a private hospital here was sentenced to seven years’ jail and seven strokes of the cane by the sessions court today after he was found guilty of seven charges of committing physical sexual assault against a young male patient.

Judge Zul Zakiquddin Zulkifli handed down the sentence on Dr Safwan Soffian, 42, after finding that the defence had failed to raise a reasonable doubt against the prosecution’s case.

Safwan was charged with committing physical sexual assault against the boy, who was 11 and 12 years old at the time of the incidents, in his consultation room in September, October and November 2022, as well as April 2023.

He was charged under Sections 14(a) and 14(d) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017, which provide for a penalty of up to 20 years in prison and whipping, upon conviction.

The court sentenced him to five years’ jail and one stroke of the cane on each of the first six charges, and seven years’ jail and one stroke of the cane on the seventh charge.

The sentences are to run concurrently, effective today.

It also imposed two years of police supervision after the jail sentence has been completed.

The prosecution was conducted by deputy public prosecutors Ahmad Hafizuddin Manjur Ahmad and Nur Azhani Azman, while Safwan was represented by Ahmad Kamal Abu Bakar, Arik Zakri Abdul Kadir and Ahmad Fairuz Jusoh. - FMT