KUALA LUMPUR: A witness in the sexual harassment trial involving celebrity preacher Ebit Lew told the court that he invited her to swap partners for intimate relations.
According to news portal Free Malaysia Today, the ninth witness, who is also the complainant, informed the court about this while explaining the WhatsApp text screenshots she received during the main examination session at the Tenom magistrate's court.
The woman in her 40s told the court that in the WhatsApp text received, Ebit, whose real name is Ebit Irawan Ibrahim Lew, 38, suggested swapping partners so that he could engage in intimate relations with the complainant, while the complainant's husband was asked to engage in intimate relations with Ebit's wife.
In another screenshot, the complainant told the court that Ebit also used vulgar language by expressing a desire to hug, kiss affectionately, and engage in inappropriate activities with her.
The complainant then responded to the message by stating that Ebit has a wife and he must have a husband-wife relationship at home, so why would he want to do that with her.
When Ebit invited her to swap partners, the complainant told him that she and her husband would not agree to it, as reported by Utusan Malaysia.
Furthermore, upon reading the indecent sentences received from Ebit, the complainant also felt embarrassed because the sentences were quite humiliating, and she herself, as a married woman, had never written or spoken sentences like those written by Ebit.
According to the witness, she also sent WhatsApp messages advising Ebit to repent and not to do such things with others because Ebit is a well-known figure.
"I am the only one who kept this disgrace, as you said, we are ordinary humans.
"Besides, I am someone's wife. It doesn't matter, this is my life's test, having a husband like this, I just endure it for the sake of my child," she said.
In her testimony, the witness also told the court that in her WhatsApp texts, she felt sorry for Ebit because the accused is a well-known figure, so she advised him not to WhatsApp others like that because if it spreads, the accused himself will be ashamed.
Ebit faces 11 charges of sexual harassment, namely sending obscene pictures and words with the intention of dishonouring a woman's dignity through WhatsApp, allegedly occurring in Tenom between March 29 and June 18, 2021.
He is charged under Section 509 of the Penal Code, which provides for imprisonment of up to five years, a fine, or both for each charge.
The trial is being conducted before magistrate Nur Asyraf Zolhani, with deputy public prosecutors Nor Azizah Mohamad and Analia Kamaruddin handling the case, while Ebit is represented by lawyers Ram Singh and Mohd Syarulnizam Salleh Keruak.