Visually impaired man fined RM7,000 for molesting student

KUALA LUMPUR: A visually impaired man, who has a previous record for molesting, was fined RM7,000 in default six months' jail by the Magistrate's Court here today for molesting also a visually impaired student last month.
Magistrate Mahyudin Mohmad Som handed down the sentence on Mohamad Azhar Abd Wahab, 50, after he pleaded guilty to committing the offence on the 20-year-old victim inside a lift of the Malaysian Association for the Blind (MAB) at Jalan Tebing, Off Jalan Tun Sambathan here between 1pm and 1.30pm on Nov 8.
The charge, under Section 354 of the Penal Code, carries a maximum 10 years imprisonment or a fine or whipping or any two of the punishments upon conviction.
Mohamad Azhar, who was unrepresented, appealed to the court for a minimum fine, saying he had repented and had a wife and four children to support.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Nur Farah Adilah Noordin, however, urged the court to impose an appropriate sentence to serve as a lesson to the accused.
According to the facts of the case, the accused had hugged the girl and groped her breasts when they were in the lift to the third floor of the MAB building. The frightened victim went out on the second floor and informed the incident to her teacher. — Bernama