KUALA LUMPUR: A 36-year-old teacher was sentenced to 10 years in jail and five strokes of rotan by the Sessions Court today for inciting his student to perform an act of gross indecency last year.
Judge M. Kunasundary meted out the sentence to Asman Ambo Sakka, after finding the defence had failed to raise reasonable doubt against prosecution’s case.
The English teacher at a primary school had committed the offence on a 10-year-old boy in the teacher's toilet between July and September, last year.
Kunasundary, in reprimanding the teacher said he should have protected the students instead of encouraging them to do perform indecent act.
“His (Asman) action implied that the school is not a safe place to learn anymore.
“I hope the school can take a proactive measure to curb this problem… do not wait until it is too late,” she said.
Meanwhile, Kunasundary also denied Asman’s lawyer, Azi Azlin Zulkifli application for a stay of execution pending an appeal against the sentence at the High Court.
Azi Azlin when pleading for a lenient sentence said this was the first offence committed by his client.
Asman, who is currently suspended from his job, was charged under Section 377E of the Penal Code, which carries a jail term of up to 15 years, and possible canning.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Liyana Zawani Mohd Radzi said suitable punishment must be handed down to the accused due to the impact it had on the victim.
“The victim had suffered a great trauma and his study was also affected due to the incident,” she said.