Nasi lemak seller fined RM10,000 for caning, injuring stepson over homework

KUALA LUMPUR: A nasi lemak seller was fined RM10,000 by the Sessions Court here Monday (Oct 23) for caning and causing injuries to his six-year-old stepson after the boy failed to solve mathematical problems.

Judge Norina Zainol Abidin handed down the sentence after the 38-year-old man pleaded guilty to the charge and ordered the accused to serve six months in jail if he failed to pay the fine.

The court also ordered the man to be placed on a five-year good behaviour bond, undergo counselling on parenting organised by the Social Welfare Department (JKM), and carry out 200 hours of community service to be completed within six months starting Monday.

The man was charged with causing injuries to the boy at a house in Taman Sri Rampai, Wangsa Maju here, at 6am, on June 23.

The charge, framed under Section 31(1)(a) of the Child Act 2001, carries a maximum fine of RM50,000 or 20 years’ imprisonment or both upon conviction.

According to the facts of the case, the victim would get up as early as 5am to help his mother and the accused prepare nasi lemak prior to doing his homework.

The victim was scolded and beaten with a cane by the accused for being unable to answer mathematics questions.

The boy then told his teacher about the incident before several JKM officers took him to a doctor, who later found that the victim suffered a soft tissue injury over the posterior left knee and posterior right calf as a result of caning.

Earlier, Deputy Public Prosecutor Noorhani Muhmmed Ayub asked the court to impose a deterrent sentence against the accused to serve as a lesson for him and other parents to refrain from committing the same offence.

“The title of father does not give you permission to hit the victim in order to discipline him. The boy should not have been beaten in such a manner for failing to answer mathematics questions.

“The victim needs a father’s love because his mother and biological father are divorced,” she said.

In pleading for leniency, the accused’s lawyer Arik Zakri Abdul Kadir, said his client had to support his wife, who is four months pregnant. – BK