KUALA LUMPUR: A 42-year-old taxi driver who appeared in a viral video clip with another man killing a cat in a dryer at a self-service launderette was sentenced to two years’ jail at the Selayang Sessions Court.
Judge Rasyihah Ghazali meted out the sentence against A. Mohanraj after he changed his plea to guilty when the case came up for mention.
She ordered Mohanraj’s sentence to begin from the date of his arrest on Sept 14 last year.
The accused had been charged, together with another person still at large, with cruelly causing unnecessary suffering to an animal at the self-service laundrette in Taman Gombak Ria, Batu Caves between 12.54am and 1am on Sept 11, last year.
The charge, under Section 29 (1) (e) of the Animal Welfare Act 2015, punishable under Section 29 (1) of the same act and read together with Section 34 of the Penal Code, carries a maximum fine of RM100,000 or a jail term of up to three years or both, upon conviction.
Before sentencing, Mohanraj, who was unrepresented, pleaded for a lenient sentence as he had a wife and an ill mother to look after.
“Throughout my detention, I had been ridiculed and insulted by other detainees. I would like to apologise to all Malaysians and promise that I will not repeat this offence,” he said.
However, Selangor Veterinary Services Department (DVS) prosecuting officer Roslan Mohd Isa objected, saying that a deterrent sentence needed to be handed down as it involved public interest.
“As a human being who should be able to think for himself, the accused should be protecting animals as they are defenceless. (Such actions) cannot be accepted by society,” said Roslan, who handled prosecution together with deputy public prosecutor Nurul Ain Shafie.
Also present was DVS enforcement director Zaharinan Abd Aziz.
Prior to this case, Mohanraj’s friend S. Satthiya, 27, was given a discharge not amounting to an acquittal for the same offence.
Contract worker K. Ganesh, 42, who was charged with the same offence, has maintained his plea of not guilty.
According to the facts of the case, the manager of the launderette received a call from a customer telling him that the carcass of a cat was found in one of the dryers.
The manager checked closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera footage and found that two men had taken a pregnant cat which had been under one of the tables in the launderette, chucked it inside the dryer and turned it on. The manager then lodged a police report.
It was the CCTV camera footage which eventually went viral.