PUTRAJAYA, Nov 8 — The Court of Appeal has reinstated the 13-year prison sentence imposed on the former religious teacher of a tahfiz and orphanage centre for physically sexually assaulting a male student five years ago.
A three-judge panel led by Justice Datuk Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim also restored the whipping sentence of three strokes of the cane that was imposed by the Sessions Court on Mohd Faiza Rizza Mohd Ropi.
The 38-year-old, now a pump attendant at a petrol station, had been acquitted and discharged of the charge by the High Court after successfully appealing his conviction, which led to the prosecution's appeal to overturn his acquittal.
The panel also ordered that the time spent in prison by the accused, following his unsuccessful attempt to obtain a stay of execution of his sentence pending disposal of his appeal in the High Court, should be included in his total sentence.
Judges Datuk Mohamed Zaini Mazlan and Datuk Azmi Ariffin, who were also part of the panel, also restored the Sessions Court’s order for Faiza to undergo counselling during his imprisonment and be placed under police supervision for two years after completing his time.
When delivering the court’s unanimous decision, Justice Azmi said the prosecution had successfully proven all the elements of the charge under Section 14 (a) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017.
He said the court disagreed with the Judicial Commissioner’s earlier findings that the charge against the accused should have been brought under Section 14 (d) of the same law.
The court also found no contradictions in the victim’s testimony and his police report.
A police report by Faiza, which was filed two years after he was charged in court, claiming he was falsely accused by the victim, was an afterthought and a fabrication.
The accused was convicted and sentenced to 13 years in prison and three strokes of the cane by the Sessions Court on November 26, 2021, for physical sexual assault on the student, who was 17 years old, in the warden’s room of a tahfiz and orphanage hostel in Temerloh, Pahang, at 2am on June 2019.
On May 11, 2023, the High Court overturned the Sessions Court’s ruling and acquitted and discharged Faiza. The prosecution subsequently appealed to the Court of Appeal.
Deputy Public Prosecutor P. Sarulatha appeared for the prosecution, while lawyers Shashi Devan and Muhammad Nazreen Jaafar Abdullah represented Mohd Faiza.
— Bernama
