‘Datin in maid abuse case has not left country‘
KUALA LUMPUR: A Datin who failed to appear in court for a sentencing review over a maid abuse case is believed to be still in the country.
Immigration Department director-general Datuk Seri Mustafar Ali said checks showed that she had not left the country.
“Acting on a court order, Datin Rozita Mohamad Ali has been blacklisted from leaving the country,” he told the New Straits Times Press yesterday.
Rozita, 44, was supposed to appear before the Shah Alam High Court on Wednesday to review the good behaviour bond imposed on her by the Petaling Jaya Sessions Court last week.
Selangor prosecution head Muhamad Iskandar Ahmad told the court that the prosecution’s attempt to serve a notice to Rozita and her surety, a member of the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF), for them to appear in court proved futile.
“We went to the respondent’s (Rozita’s) house in Mutiara Damansara and her family home in Melaka, but no one was at either address.
“We also tried to serve the notice to the bailor’s address at the RMAF base in Subang, but the house was empty.
“But we pasted the notice at the bailor’s house,” he had said.
On March 15, Petaling Jaya Sessions Court judge Mohammed Mokhzani Mokhtar let Rozita off with a good behaviour bond of five years, even though the prosecution pressed for a jail sentence considering the severity of the crime.
Rozita had admitted abusing Suyanti Sutrinso, 19, using a kitchen knife, a steel mop, a clothes hanger and an umbrella between 7am and 12pm on Dec 21, 2016, at a house in Mutiara Damansara.
She caused multiple injuries to the victim’s head, hands, legs and internal organs.
Rozita was initially charged under Section 307 of the Penal Code for attempted murder, which carries a maximum jail sentence of 20 years upon conviction.
The charge was amended to causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means under Section 326 of the Penal Code.
The accused pleaded guilty to the lesser charge and Mokhzani sentenced her to be bound over for five years on a good behaviour bond of RM20,000.
Mokhzani’s decision sparked outrage, from members of the public to lawmakers and nongovernmental organisations.
At press time, some 70,000 people have signed an online petition calling for “equal justice for the rich and poor”.
The petition claims that Rozita’s actions against Suyanti should have resulted in “stricter punishment” instead of a good behaviour bond.