AMPANG: A cook from India claimed trial at the Sessions Court today to a charge of sexually assaulting a two-year-old girl at a food court in Pandan Indah last week.
Senthilnathan Karthick, 34, pleaded not guilty after the charge was read out to him in Bahasa Malaysia before judge Norshila Kamaruddin.
The charge sheet read that he had rubbed his genitals against the girl's body for sexual purposes at 5pm on May 20.
He had committed the offence under Section 14(a) of the Sexual Offences Act Against Children Act 2017 punishable under Section 14 of the same act.
It provides a maximum 20-years jail term and whipping.
Deputy public prosecutor Norhashimah Hashim did not offer bail as the charge is non-bailable.
"The victim's mother is a trader near the workplace of the accused. They know each other.
"However, if the court allows bail, it should be set at RM15,000 plus additional conditions that his passport must be impounded, report to the police station and not harass the victim and prosecution witnesses," she said.
In mitigation, counsel Selvaakumaran Subramaniam pleaded for a bail of between RM2,500 and RM5,000, which will be paid by his client's employer and a colleague.
"The accused works as a cook at the food court earning RM2,500 monthly. He is his family's sole breadwinner supporting his aged parents in India and he has a two-year-old child with kidney issues.
"He is a first time offender and his passport has been surrendered to the investigating officer. We have no objections to the additional conditions," he said.
However, Norhashimah objected to the amount proposed by the counsel.
"If it is too low, I believe there could be a probability that the accused would not attend court proceedings because he is a foreigner.
"A low amount will not reflect the severity of the offence on the accused," she said.
Judge Norshila set bail at RM12,000 with two sureties.
She allowed the prosecution's application for additional conditions, ruling that the accused is barred from going near the victim and her family.
The court fixed Sept 4 for mention.