PUTRAJAYA: The 46-year-old housewife who made headlines for abusing her Indonesian maid in 2016 was finally put behind bars after the Court of Appeal dismissed her bid to set aside her eight-year jail sentence for committing the offence.
Rozita Mohamad Ali will begin serving jail time in the Kajang women's prison today.
A three-man bench led by judge Datuk Seri Kamaludin Md Said unanimously ruled that the High Court which meted out the sentence against Rozita on March 29, 2018, was correct in its decision.
Kamaludin in his judgment said Rozita's appeal had no merit as the High Court has jurisdiction to review the sentence of a good behaviour bond of RM20,000 for five years initially imposed on her by the Sessions Court.
"It is the court's view that the High Court has jurisdiction to review and amend the sentence (by the Sessions Court judge) on grounds of propriety of the sentence.
"The sentence handed down by the High Court was the current sentencing trend for such offences at that time.
"In fact, in other cases under Section 326 of the Penal Code (voluntarily causing grevious hurt), higher sentences were meted out by the court.
For instance, there are those who were jailed up to 20 years," the judge said in upholding the High Court's decision.
He also dismissed the prosecution's appeal for an increase of the eight-year jail sentence against Rozita.
The other judges presiding were Court of Appeal judges Datuk Hadhariah Syed Ismail and Datuk Nordin Hassan.
Deputy public prosecutor Ku Hayati Ku Haron prosecuted while Rozita was represented by counsel Mohamed Haniff Khatri Abdulla.
Rozita was initially charged with attempted murder of her then 19-year-old Indonesian maid Suyanti Sutrinso.
However, on March 15, 2018, the charge was reduced to voluntarily causing grievous hurt, under Section 326 - which carries a maximum 20-years jail sentence.
She pleaded guilty to the lesser offence and admitted causing multiple injuries, including to the head, eyes, hands, feet and internal organs of her maid at a house in Mutiara Damansara, here between 7am and 12pm on Dec 21, 2016.
She had used a kitchen knife, clothes hanger, mop handle and umbrella to inflict the injuries.
Despite the severity of the offence, Petaling Jaya Sessions Court judge Mohammed Mokhzani Mokhtar let her off without any jail term and only bound her over in the sum of RM20,000 to be of good behaviour for five years.
The slap on the wrist punishment meted out by Mokhzani had sparked widespread outrage, with the public questioning how one could get away without being sentenced to jail for such an offence.
The case was then called up for revision by Shah Alam High Court judge Datuk Seri Tun Majid Tun Hamzah who reversed the Sessions Court decision and imposed an eight-year jail term on Rozita after ruling that the bond of five years was inappropriate.
A video was widely spread on social media showing Suyanti lying severely injured in a drain at Mutiara Damansara, when she was found by a security guard.