KOTA BARU: A retired soldier pleaded not guilty to two charges of injuring and causing harm to her two stepchildren in an incident in Pengkalan Chepa on Friday.
The accused, Nurul Haida Mohd Lazin, 38, however, pleaded not guilty after the charges were read before Judge Zulkifli Abdullah and Magistrate Rais Imran Hamid.
According to the first charge in the Sessions Court, she was accused of abusing a 10-year-old boy by hitting him, causing injuries to his mouth and ear.
For the second charge in the magistrate's Court, she was accused of intentionally causing harm to a 9-year-old girl.
The incident allegedly took place on the third floor of a house in Pengkalan Chepa at 4pm last Friday.
For the first charge, the accused is charged under Section 31(1)(a) of the Child Act 2001 (Act 611), which is punishable under Section 31 (1) of the same act.
If convicted, the accused faces a fine of up to RM50,000 or imprisonment for up to 20 years, or both.
For the second charge, the accused is charged under Section 323 of the Penal Code (Act 574), read together with Section 326A of the same act, which provides for a punishment of imprisonment for up to one year or a fine of up to RM2,000, or both.
The prosecution was led by deputy public prosecutors Ahmad Faiz Fitri Mohamad and Mohamad Syamsul Ikhmal Ramli, while the accused was represented by lawyer Datuk Sukri Mohamad.
Earlier, Mohd Faiz requested bail to be set at RM15,000 bail, as the victims were children.
Sukri, however, requested a minimum bail, noting that his client had just retired last year.
"My client is taking care of six children, three biological and three stepchildren. She has been caring for her stepchildren for the past four years, and such an incident has never occurred before," he said.
The court then granted RM10,000 bail for the Sessions Court and RM3,000 for the magistrate's court.
The court also set February 12 for the next mention of the case.