Malaysia man who slapped non-Muslim for eating during Ramadan gets discharge not amounting to acquittal

JOHOR BAHRU - The senior citizen accused of slapping a man for eating in public during Ramadan has been discharged, not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA), at the Magistrate’s Court in Johor Bahru.

Abdul Razak Ismail, 65, was given a DNAA by Magistrate A Shaarmini after Deputy Public Prosecutor Nur Fatihah Mohd Nizam told the court that she had received instructions from the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) for the case to be DNAA and referred to the AGC.

The order came immediately after the court set the next mention for the case and was in the midst of setting bail for the suspect.

Earlier, the court rejected the accused’s guilty plea after he disputed the facts of the case, despite pleading guilty to causing injury to a 21-year-old man.

Abdul Razak had pleaded guilty when the charge for “voluntarily causing hurt”, was read.

He was accused of causing injury to a 21-year-old at a convenience store in a shopping mall at about 3.45pm on March 16.

However, Abdul Razak did not agree with the facts of the case that were read to him.

According to the facts of the case, Abdul Razak had caused bruises on the victim’s cheeks due to the slaps.

It noted that medical officers who examined the victim confirmed the bruises. Abdul Razak disagreed, claiming that he did not slap him that hard which caused a bruise.

This led Ms Shaarmini to reject his guilty plea despite his attempt to retract his words, saying that he did not want to trouble his son.

“We do not accept a conditional guilty plea,” said Ms Shaarmini before setting the next case mention.

However, when the court was in the midst of setting bail, instructions from the AGC came, and the case was then DNAA.

On March 16, two videos lasting 32 seconds and 44 seconds of the alleged incident went viral on social media.

On March 17, Johor Bahru North OCPD Assistant Commissioner Balveer Singh confirmed that the police had received a report of the incident from the victim.

“A 21-year-old man lodged a police report at 9.08pm on March 16. Investigations revealed that the incident occurred at around 3.45pm.

“The victim alleged that he was slapped twice on the right cheek by an unknown man.

“The case is being investigated under Section 323 of the Penal Code for voluntarily causing hurt,” he added.

He said the non-Muslim youth was scolded and slapped while eating at a convenience store during Ramadan.

He added that a video shared on social media on March 16 showed a verbal altercation between two men at the store. THE STAR/ ASIA NEWS NETWORK

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