FMT:
Cemetery sex couple freed
The couple have served 28 days in prison since their arrest on March 23
The High Court reduced M Jegathesan and Halila Abu Bakar’s jail term for gross indecency from 12 months to 28 days.
PETALING JAYA: The couple convicted of gross indecency at a Penang cemetery last month and sentenced to one year in jail were released today after the George Town High Court reduced their sentence.
Justice Rofiah Mohamad upheld the conviction of M Jegathesan, 58, and Halila Abu Bakar, 37, but ordered their jail term to run from their arrest on March 23 until today, effectively reducing the sentence to 28 days in custody.
“The conviction is maintained… (but) the 12-month sentence is replaced with imprisonment from the date of arrest until today,” she said, as reported by the New Straits Times.
The pair had pleaded guilty at the George Town magistrates’ court to gross indecency at the Batu Gantong Chinese cemetery on March 22, an offence under Section 377D of the Penal Code, which carries a jail term of up to two years.
Their lawyer, Naran Singh, had sought a review of the sentence, arguing it was excessive.
Deputy public prosecutor Muna Jaafar said the prosecution accepted the defence’s representations which had proposed that the conviction be maintained but with a reduced sentence.
Naran said he was satisfied with the outcome.
“I’m very happy with this revision. The sentence has been reduced from 12 months to 28 days, which is the minimum,” he said.
“We did not challenge the conviction. It stands, but the sentence was set aside as it’s excessive for this case.”
Justice Rofiah Mohamad upheld the conviction of M Jegathesan, 58, and Halila Abu Bakar, 37, but ordered their jail term to run from their arrest on March 23 until today, effectively reducing the sentence to 28 days in custody.
“The conviction is maintained… (but) the 12-month sentence is replaced with imprisonment from the date of arrest until today,” she said, as reported by the New Straits Times.
The pair had pleaded guilty at the George Town magistrates’ court to gross indecency at the Batu Gantong Chinese cemetery on March 22, an offence under Section 377D of the Penal Code, which carries a jail term of up to two years.
Their lawyer, Naran Singh, had sought a review of the sentence, arguing it was excessive.
Deputy public prosecutor Muna Jaafar said the prosecution accepted the defence’s representations which had proposed that the conviction be maintained but with a reduced sentence.
Naran said he was satisfied with the outcome.
“I’m very happy with this revision. The sentence has been reduced from 12 months to 28 days, which is the minimum,” he said.
“We did not challenge the conviction. It stands, but the sentence was set aside as it’s excessive for this case.”
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