KLANG: A Jawi teacher at a religious school linked to scandal-ridden Global Ikhwan Services and Business Holdings (GISB) was sentenced to 10 years' jail by the Sessions Court today. He was found guilty of caning three pupils and kneeling on one of them in the chest in June, July and earlier this month.
Judge Noridah Adam meted out the sentence on Muhammad Barur Rahim Hisam, 23, after he pleaded guilty to four charges under Section 31(1)(a) of the Child Act 2001.
The court ordered him to serve a two-year jail term each for the first and second charges, and three years each for the third and fourth charges.
The jail term is to run consecutively from the date of his arrest, and the court also imposed a five-year good behaviour bond with a surety of RM10,000.
The accused will serve a six-month jail term if he fails to adhere to the bond.
Earlier, the bespectacled Barur, clad in a red jersey T-shirt with his head bowed throughout the proceedings, said he understood the charges and pleaded guilty.
In mitigation before the court handed down the sentence, Barur, who was unrepresented, had at first said he had nothing to say.
This prompted the court interpreter to explain to him that he can make his plea.
"I am truly repentant and vow not to repeat it. I am aged 23, unmarried and supporting my parents.
"If possible, I ask for a light sentence. That is all," he said.
On the first and second counts, he was separately charged with abuse, as someone having the care of two boys aged 11 and 10, by repeatedly caning them on their palms in a manner likely to cause them physical injuries.
Barur, who is also a warden, committed the offences at two schools in Bandar Bukit Raja in July.
On the third and fourth counts, he was charged with abusing another 10-year-old by kneeing him on his chest and caning him at one of the schools in June and September.
The offences for ill-treatment, neglect, abandonment or exposure of children carry a maximum fine of RM50,000 or a jail sentence of not more than 20 years, or both.
Section 31(2) of the act stipulates that the court, shall, in addition to any punishment specified in subsection (1), order the person convicted of an offence to execute a bond with sureties to be of good behaviour for such period as the court thinks fit and to perform community service.
Deputy public prosecutor Datin Kalmizah Salleh asked the court to impose a maximum sentence to serve as a lesson to the accused and a deterrent to society.
She said the accused's plea for lighter sentences should not be considered, as he should have thought of the consequences of his actions.
"His acts were inhumane with elements of force, and this should not be taken lightly. He is a caretaker at the school where the boys are studying, and he should be responsible for caring for them.
"He should be protecting them. His acts of abuse on the children, which caused injuries, were overboard. The viral videos attracted public interest and had caused an uproar.
"The mental health and condition of the victims must be factored in too. They are still schooling and have a lot ahead of them. Due to the acts of the accused, they are traumatised. This incident will haunt them," she said.
The facts of the case read that Barur had caned the first victim on his palm five times with a rotan in July for littering in the school.
A video of Barur committing the act was found in a handphone seized by the police.
In the second case, Barur admitted to caning the second victim six times on his palm and led investigators to a teacher's room in a school where he kept the rotan.
The boy's medical report showed old bruises on his right palm near his thumb.
Barur also admitted to abusing the third victim with a rotan, a broomstick and a badminton racket, which were kept in the teacher's room.
He also recorded himself kneeling on the same boy's chest, and the boy was heard screaming in the video.
The boy's medical report showed bruises on his chest and old injuries on a finger.
Two viral videos emerged on social media recently showing a boy crying while a man knelt on his chest and caning another on his palm.
Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Razarudin Husain had said GISB had been on the police watch list since 2011 and they have detected several videos of children being abused, believed to have taken place in GISB-linked homes.
The police crackdown on GISB in a series of raids codenamed Op Global started on Sept 11 at 20 welfare homes in Selangor and Negri Sembilan allegedly operated by the organisation where 402 children, some aged 1, were rescued.
The subsequent raids have so far seen a total of 572 children rescued from other GISB-linked homes and 355 people, including religious teachers, were arrested.
Police probe revealed that many of the children had suffered physical and emotional abuse, with 13 reportedly victims of sexual assault, including sodomy.
In a video, GISB chairman and chief executive officer Datuk Nasiruddin Mohd Ali said that "one or two" cases of sodomy occurred in its welfare homes but involved several people.
On Sept 21, Sultan of Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah ordered all unregistered charity homes and Islamic schools in the staten under GISB and its network suspected of being involved in any criminal activities to be immediately closed to protect children from further abuse.
Sultan Sharafuddin expressed disappointment over the reports of criminal activities by GISB.
His Majesty had said according to reports he received, most of the charity homes under GISB have been operating for a long time in several states, particularly in Selangor, without registration as required by current laws.