Review RM16,000 fine on teacher who molested pupils, say lawyers

 SN Nair and V Kokila Vaani say the sentence should reflect the seriousness of the offences committed against children by a person in a position of trust.

SN Nair and V Kokila Vaani said significant weight should be given to the abuse of the teacher’s position.

PETALING JAYA:

Two lawyers have called for a review of a RM16,000 fine imposed on a secondary school teacher for outraging the modesty of three schoolgirls.

SN Nair and V Kokila Vaani said that although the teacher’s guilty plea was a mitigating factor, it could not outweigh the seriousness of the offences committed against children by a person entrusted with their education and welfare.

Nair said the RM16,000 fine was profoundly troubling and disproportionate. “It is inadequate,” he said.

“The victims were three defenceless and vulnerable schoolgirls aged 14, 15 and 16, who were under the care and authority of a teacher.

“When a teacher abuses that position of trust through criminal force intended to outrage their modesty, the sentence should appropriately reflect the principles of punishment, deterrence, denunciation and the protection of vulnerable children,” he told FMT.

He said the law provides for up to 10 years’ imprisonment, a fine, whipping, or any two of those punishments.

Nair urged the public prosecutor to review the sentence and, where appropriate, appeal against its inadequacy.

On Friday, Asyraf Ahmad who teaches in a school in Rembau, Negeri Sembilan, pleaded guilty to four charges and was fined for using criminal force against three schoolgirls with the intention of outraging their modesty.

Separately, Bar Council member V Kokila Vaani said while the sentences were within the court’s powers and discretion, they appeared to be very lenient with no deterrent factor.

“This is not a case involving two strangers. The girls were under his supervision, and therefore the abuse of that position should arguably carry significant weight when the court considers deterrence,” she said.

Kokila Vaani cited another case involving a secondary school discipline teacher who was jailed for two years and ordered to be caned six times. It showed that Malaysian courts have considered imprisonment and whipping to be appropriate penalties where a teacher-student relationship is involved.

Courts abroad have taken such cases very seriously, with most imposing jail terms, she said. - FMT