Ex-Penang councillor acquitted of molesting waitress

 

Prem Anand Loganathan has been freed of the molest charge, with the High Court saying the lower court had been misdirected and was flawed in many aspects. (Bernama pic)

GEORGE TOWN: A former Penang councillor has been acquitted by the High Court here of a charge of molesting a waitress in 2017.

Prem Anand Loganathan, 55, who was then also an aide to an assemblyman, had been charged under Section 354 of the Penal Code with molesting a 21-year-old woman by the name of “Tan”, at an entertainment outlet on Beach Street on July 6, 2017.

In 2019, the magistrates’ court sentenced him to three years’ jail and fined him RM7,000. He then appealed to the High Court.

Today, judicial commissioner Mohd Radzi Abdul Hamid reversed the decision, saying the lower court had been misdirected and was flawed in many aspects.

Prem’s lawyer, E Gnanasegaran, said the magistrate had failed to take into account all the facts in the case.

“The magistrates’ court decision was perverse in terms of fact-finding and the High Court has rightly said the conviction was unsafe,” he said.

“There are questions that need to be answered but have not been answered properly, especially when the victim refused to submit to a medical examination after the police instructed her to. There is no proper explanation as to why she refused to do so.”

Gnanasegaran said Prem’s conviction and sentencing had been set aside.

Prem had been Penang Island Municipal Council (MPPP) councillor during the 2008 to 2013 term. - FMT