6 mengaku tak salah culik, samun pasangan warga Singapura

Johor Bahru Sessions Court has allowed six suspects to be held on RM50,000 bail each, with additional conditions prohibiting harassment of the victim and witnesses, after six locals from Singapore admitted to four charges of stalking, kidnapping, conspiracy and causing injury to a Singaporean couple's love interest. The accused individuals are M Balamurugam, 46; K Saravanan, 40; P Sri Devi, 41; G Puganeswaran, 38; S Gobinath, 38; and X Adwin Nicholas, 41.

They appeared before Judge Nor Aziati Jaafar, following the reading of the charges at a church in No 22, Jalan Orkid, in Skudai on the evening of August 8.

The six accused were charged under Section 3 of the Stalking Act 1961 and were also read Section 34 of the Penal Code, which carries a maximum penalty of 40 years imprisonment and a fine if found guilty. However, the Public Prosecutor, R Nevina, did not offer the usual guarantee of payment, as the offense was considered serious and could not be secured.

Advocat K Veeranesh, representing Sri Devi, however, requested the court to allow her minor daughter to be held on bail due to her six children aged between one and 22, who are not working. The court granted bail to each accused in the amount of RM50,000, along with two sureties, in addition to the conditions of not disturbing the victim or witnesses, reporting to the police station once a month, and surrendering their passports to the court.

Balamurugam, Saravanan, and Gobinath pleaded not guilty to the charge of conspiracy to commit breaking and entering a gold chain and Rolex watch belonging to the victim into a vehicle parked in Johor Bahru Utara around the evening of August 8. They were charged under Section 395 of the Penal Code, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years imprisonment and a fine.

The prosecution did not offer any guarantee of payment, but the court allowed each accused to be held on RM9,000 bail. Judge A Shaarmini allowed the six accused to be held not guilty of the charge of kidnapping a Singaporean citizen, Zaylen Zayraelle Xie Manting, with the intention of secretly confining her and illegally detaining her at Block C-03-06, Taman Skudai Villa, Jalan Aman, Taman Skudai Baru, and other locations between August 8 and August 11.

They were charged under Section 365 and read Section 34 of the Penal Code, which carries a maximum penalty of seven years imprisonment and a fine. The court allowed them to be held on RM10,000 bail each, along with two sureties, and imposed additional conditions on Sri Devi, Gobinath, and Saravanan to surrender their passports. Saravanan and Puganeswaran received a fine of RM3,000 for admitting to injuring Al-Shameer using a knife at Block C-03-06, Taman Skudai Villa between 10 am and 1 pm on August 11.

Judge Nurzihan Abdul Rehman also imposed a six-month prison sentence for them if they fail to pay the fine. The case has been adjourned to September 23.