Global Courant 2023-05-30 18:28:00
MELAKA – A Singaporean director of a tahfiz institution in Melaka has filed suit in two Sessions Courts against five charges of beating his four students so severely that they were injured.
Muhammad Farhan Abdul Rashif, 35, pleaded not guilty when the charges were read before Sessions judges Darmafikri Abu Adam and Mohd Sabri Ismail on Tuesday.
Based on the first two charges in the first court, the defendant allegedly exposed two students under his care to danger in a way that likely caused physical or emotional harm.
The victims were reportedly punched on the cheek, kicked in the stomach and stomped on the chest, one of them suffering injuries to his right leg, in the teachers’ lounge of the tahfiz center in Melaka Tengah district on May 7 and 8.
Tahfiz, which means to memorize in Arabic, refers to an Islamic tradition of memorizing all the verses of the Quran.
The two charges were brought under section 31(1)(a) of the Child Act 2001.
Any person found guilty could face a fine not exceeding RM50,000 (S$14,600), imprisonment for up to 20 years, or both.
The accused also faced three more charges under the same section in the second court for physically assaulting two 15-year-old students by beating and stomping on them and beating them with a stick.
The three violations are said to have been committed in mid-February and May 10 at a surau and a sports field in the tahfiz center.
No bail was granted by either court. The accused will return to court on June 26. THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
