Taekwondo exponent ordered to issue public apology

KUALA LUMPUR: National taekwondo exponent Nur Dhia Liyana Shaharuddin (pic) has to apologise publicly to a disabled senior citizen whom she allegedly assaulted in an incident at an LRT station.

The Civil Sessions Court here ordered the 25-year-old athlete to publish the apology in the newspapers one month from the date of the order.

Lawyer Datuk Dr S. Arunan, who represented 71-year-old Placid P. Rodriguez, told the press that judge Lalilatul Zuraida Harron @ Harun made the decision in chambers after allowing the suit filed by his client, who is partially blind and deaf.

“The court also ordered

Nur Dhia Liyana to pay RM1,000 in general damages and RM88 in special damages as well as RM1,000 in costs to the plaintiff,” he said after the case was brought up for decision in chambers yesterday.

Rodriguez filed the suit against Nur Dhia Liyana at the Kuala Lumpur High Court on Dec 6, 2017.

In the statement of claim, Rodriguez said he boarded the LRT train to Putra Heights on July 6, 2017, and upon reaching the station, had allowed other passengers to disembark to avoid being pushed.

He claimed that he was wearing a hearing aid, and the defendant later kicked him four times on his chest and other parts of his body despite his repeated pleas to her to stop.

As a result of the defendant’s action, the plaintiff claimed to have suffered pain and mental and emotional stress, and trauma when trying to go out on his own.

He sought a written unconditional, unqualified and unreserved apology by the defendant; general damages; special damages of RM88.78; aggravated and exemplary damages; and other reliefs deemed fit by the court.

Meanwhile, Arunan told the press that the lawsuit was filed not for financial reasons but to seek justice over what happened.

“What is more important is for the defendant to apologise to my client,” he said.

In August last year, Nur Dhia Liyana was given a discharge not amounting to an acquittal by a magistrate’s court in Petaling Jaya for allegedly causing hurt to Rodriguez, after the prosecution accepted the letter of representation to drop the charge.

The athlete was charged under Section 323 of the Penal Code, which carries a jail term of up to one year or a fine of up to RM2,000 upon conviction.