PUTRAJAYA: Acts of sodomy among prisoners must be met with severe punishment as they pose a significant threat to public safety, the Court of Appeal ruled recently.
Judge Datuk Datuk Azmi Ariffin said that such a trend seemed to be escalating rapidly, with no clear indication of when it would stop or reach its end.
"The act of sodomy that befell the victim in the prison detention cell is not something easily erased from memory, as it has become a horrifying dark stain that is difficult to remove from the diary of the victim's life journey.
"We hope that the heavy punishment handed down by the court will be able to curb the uncontrolled sexual desires of individuals like this from continuing day after day.
"It should be reiterated that this unnatural sexual act took place in a prison cell under strict supervision and regulations.
"However, strangely, the accused still managed to 'menangguk di air yang keruh' (fishing in troubled waters) seizing the opportunity to satisfy his lust with his cellmate," he said.
Azmi said this in a unanimous judgment while dismissing S. Kalidas' appeal against his 15 years' imprisonment and four strokes of the cane for sodomising his cellmate at Sungai Buloh Prison on Oct 12, 2018.
The other judges on the panel are Datuk Hadhariah Syed Ismail and Datuk Azman Abdullah.
The appellate court said the accused had tarnished the good name of the prison department, which works tirelessly day and night to ensure the safety and welfare of its inmates.
"It also cast a shadow on all the other well-behaved prisoners there," he added.