JOHOR BARU: The suspect in the abduction case of a six-year-old girl at Eco Galleria, Iskandar Puteri, on July 20 will be charged tomorrow.
The 31-year-old man will be brought to the Court Complex here and also to the Kulai Magistrate's Court tomorrow to face the charges.
Johor police chief, Commissioner M. Kumar, said the suspect would face 15 charges after two investigation papers were referred to the Deputy Public Prosecutor's Office, which issued instructions for prosecution.
"The suspect will face one charge under Section 363 of the Penal Code for kidnapping a child from lawful guardianship and another charge under Section 346 of the Penal Code for wrongful confinement.
"The suspect will also be charged with seven counts under Section 292 of the Penal Code for possession of obscene material; four counts under Section 8(b) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017 for obtaining, collecting, or requesting child sexual abuse material; one count under Section 10 of the same act for possession of child sexual abuse material, and one more charge under Section 15(a)(ii) of the same act," he said in a media statement today.
The man is the fifth suspect arrested in connection with the abduction of the girl, following the arrest of four suspects by police on July 22 and 23.
The fifth suspect was arrested at about 4.45am on July 23 at a budget hotel near Batang Kali, Selangor, when police rescued the girl at the location.
Last Sunday, the suspect was re-arrested by police following the discovery of various sex toys, adult pornography, and child sexual abuse material at his residence near Kulai.
He was then remanded for six days until this Saturday.
Earlier, the suspect's remand period, totaling 13 days for the kidnapping investigation under Section 365 of the Penal Code and Section 14(a) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017, ended last Sunday, and the suspect was released on police bail before being re-arrested.
The four other suspects, aged 28 to 55, who were previously arrested, were remanded for four days until July 26 before being released on police bail, and their remand period was not extended.