Woman begins 8-year jail term for abusing Indonesian maid

 

Rozita Mohd Ali had pleaded guilty to causing hurt to her 19-year-old Indonesian maid using a knife, a mop, a clothes hanger, an iron bar, a cat’s toy and an umbrella. (Bernama pic)

PUTRAJAYA: A woman today began her eight-year jail term for physically abusing her young Indonesian maid after failing in her final appeal in the Court of Appeal.

Rozita Mohd Ali, 46, was on bail of RM25,000 since May 2018 after her jail term was suspended pending the disposal of her case.

A three-member bench, chaired by Kamaludin Md Said, today ruled that the High Court was correct in imposing the jail term as that was the current sentencing trend for such offences.

“In fact, there have been instances of accused persons who were jailed up to 20 years for voluntarily causing grievous hurt under Section 326 of the Penal Code,” he said in dismissing Rozita’s appeal.

Kamaludin said High Court judge Tun Majid Tun Hamzah was also correct in imposing a custodial sentence in lieu of releasing her on a good behaviour bond.

He said the High Court had the power to review the case instead of waiting for the prosecution to appeal the matter from the Sessions Court.

The appellate court also dismissed the prosecution’s appeal to enhance Rozita’s jail term.

Sitting with Kamaludin were Hadhariah Syed Ismail and Nordin Hassan.

Rozita pleaded guilty in the Sessions Court on March 15, 2018 to a lesser charge of causing grievous hurt to 19-year-old Indonesian maid Suyanti Sutrinso using a knife, a mop, a clothes hanger, an iron bar, a cat’s toy and an umbrella at a house in Mutiara Damansara, Petaling Jaya, on June 21, 2016.

A video of Suyanti, seriously injured and lying near a drain in a housing area in Mutiara Damansara, went viral in December 2016.

Sessions Court judge Mohammed Mokhzani Mokhtar released Rozita on a good behaviour bond for five years with a surety of RM20,000.

However, this sparked outrage among the public, with an online petition against the sentence attracting more than 70,000 signatures.

Lawyer Mohamed Haniff Khatri Abdulla represented Rozita while deputy public prosecutors Ku Hayati Ku Haron and Nurul Farhana Khalid appeared for the prosecution. - FMT