Jan 23 D-Day for duo accused of trafficking four girls

KOTA KINABALU: A man and a woman, who were charged with four counts of trafficking four girls for the purpose of exploitation, will know their fate on Jan 23 at the Sessions Court here.

Judge Azreena Aziz set the date for Hasrul Abd Hamid and Siti Nurain Abdul Malik @ Rachel after the defence closed its case yesterday.

On the first to fourth counts, Hasrul and Siti Nurain were accused of trafficking the girls aged between 15 and 17 at an entertainment outlet at Jalan Lintas at 1.45am on Feb 7.

They were jointly charged under Section 14 of the Anti- Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007, which provides for a jail term of up to 20 years and also liable to a fine, upon conviction.

The prosecution had produced seven witnesses to testify against the two accused and the defence had called four witnesses.

Meanwhile, the same court will rule on Jan 30 whether a man will be freed or to enter his defence on a charge of committing sexual abuse against his three-year-old grand-daughter.

The accused, aged 48, allegedly committed the offence on the toddler at a house here at 6.30pm on Sept 19, 2017

The charge was under Section 15 (a) (i) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017 which provides for a jail term of up to 10 years and whipping, upon conviction.

The prosecution had called five witnesses to give their oral evidence against the accused.