KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 23 — A nasi lemak seller was fined RM10,000 by the Sessions Court today 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 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 accused 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 today.
The man was charged with causing injuries to the boy at a house in Taman Sri Rampai, Wangsa Maju, 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, 20 years' imprisonment, or both upon conviction.
According to the case facts, the victim would get up as early as 5am to help his mother and the accused prepare nasi lemak before doing his homework.
The accused scolded and beat the victim with a cane 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 the victim suffered a soft tissue injury over the posterior left knee and posterior right cart due to 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 other parents and himself, to refrain from committing the same offence.
“The title of father does not permit you to hit the victim 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.
— Bernama
