Man in landmark stalking case ordered placed in psych hospital
SHAH ALAM: The Magistrates’ Court here yesterday acqui ed and discharged a former part-time event management consultant, who was the first individual to be charged under the new antistalking law, and directed the man to be placed in Hospital Bahagia Ulu Kinta in Perak where he will be held at the pleasure of the Sultan of Selangor.
Magistrate Sasha Diana Sabtu said the decision was made a er examining the overall testimony of prosecution and defence witnesses, concluding that Mohamad Safiq Rosli, 38, had commi ed the act as stated in the charge.
“The court finds that due to unsound mind, the accused did not realise that his actions were contrary to the provisions under Section 84 of the Penal Code.
“As such, under the provisions of Section 347 of the Criminal Procedure Code, the accused is released and acqui ed of the charge. Further, referring to Section 348 of the Criminal Procedure Code, the accused is ordered to be placed under secure custody at Hospital Bahagia Ulu Kinta, Perak,” she said in her judgment.
During the victim impact statement, lawyer Jason Wee who was holding a watching brief for Acacia Mardiana Daud informed the court that his client had been harassed by the man since the age of 23, and the accused went to the extent of creating over 30 social media accounts to torment the victim.
Wee highlighted that over the course of eight years, his client experienced loss of friendships due to her reluctance to socialise. In addition, her income through social media was affected as she feared uploading content about any product.
“He (Mohamad Safiq) has used up money to travel across the world, spending months in the United Kingdom just to locate me. He has been smart enough to evade the authorities in the UK.
“For eight years, I have cried for help and felt hopeless. I have felt like I will get killed, because I know he is so obsessed with me and won’t stop searching for me, regardless of what anyone says or even if I get married,” Wee said when reading the impact statement on behalf of Acacia.
Earlier, Hospital Bahagia Ulu Kinta psychiatric consultant Dr Ian Lloyd Anthony told the court that following an examination of Mohamad Safiq, the accused was diagnosed with schizophrenia.
He said during the alleged offences, Mohamad Safiq was of unsound mind and unaware that his actions were offensive or against the law.
“His mental disorder, predominantly delusional, involved the ‘delusion of love’ or erotomania.
“For almost eight years, the delusion evolved, making his life entirely revolve around the victim. He obsessively gathered details about her personal life, work, likes and dislikes.
“He believed that they were in a romantic relationship but in reality, it was only a one-sided communication relationship,” he said when testifying as a defence witness.
The Magistrates’ Court here had on Dec 20 rejected Mohamad Safiq’s guilty plea, which magistrate Sasha Diana explained was due to concerns about the accused’s mental state raised by the prosecution.