SUNGAI BESAR: A pisang goreng seller was today jailed 24 months by the magistrate's court after he pleaded guilty to two charges of kidnapping two girls aged 6 and 8 at Taman Ikan Emas last week.
Mohamed Shahriza Othman, 32, made the guilty plea after the two charges were read out separately to him before magistrate Siti Hajar Ali.
For both charges, Siti Hajar sentenced him to 12 months' and 24-months' jail, as well as a RM2,000 fine in default two months' jail.
She ordered Shahriza to serve the sentences concurrently.
Siti Hajar said she found that the accused had shown remorse for his actions.
"This court must mete out a deterrence sentence and take public interest into consideration to serve as a lesson to the accused and the public.
"Kidnapping cases are rampant and it is a serious offence."
Both charges read that Shahriza had kidnapped the girls from their lawful guardianship in the neighbourhood.
He committed the offences at 6.30pm on July 19.
The offence, under Section 363 of the Penal Code, carries a maximum jail term of seven years and a fine. The facts of the case stated that the girls were playing in front of a house when they were approached by Shahriza, who was in a Perodua Bezza.
He had asked the girls to accompany him to send letters and gave them RM50 as a favour. The girls followed him to a grocery shop, went for a ride around Jeram and then to his house before he sent them home at 7.45pm.
A man made a police report at 7.06pm stating that his daughter and her friend had been taken away by an unknown man in a Perodua Bezza.
At 2.40am, the accused was arrested in Jalan Pawang Jalil, Jeram.
In mitigation, National Legal Aid Foundation lawyer Muhd Muqri Mohd Khairi, who represented Shahriza, pleaded for a light sentence for both charges.
He requested the jail term to start from his date of arrest and to run concurrently.
"I was told that Shahriza resorted to his actions because he longed for daughters.
"He has two sons and he has yet to be blessed with a daughter.
"He is repentant and I ask the court to take into consideration the fact that he willingly sent both girls back to their families.
"He is his family's sole breadwinner and his wife is a housewife. This is his first offence, and he was remanded for five days and cooperated with the police," he said. Deputy public prosecutor Nurul Sofea Jaysal asked the court to hand down a severe punishment.
"This is an offence that involves public interest. He had kidnapped two girls and lately, there has been a rise in such cases and it is a threat to society.
"I ask for the sentences to run consecutively," she said.
Earlier, Shahriza, clad in purple prison outfit, arrived at the court in handcuffs and escorted by the police into the building at 8.20am. Selangor police chief Datuk Hussein Omar Khan yesterday said the man would face two charges under the section for abducting a child from lawful guardianship.
On Sunday, Kuala Selangor acting police chief Deputy Superintendent Mohd Ambia Nordin said the suspect was arrested in Jeram and remanded for five days.
Last Friday, it was reported that two children were abducted by a man in a dark-coloured Perodua Bezza at Taman Ikan Emas.