KUALA LUMPUR: Relatives of a seven-year-old girl shouted abuses at her 75-year-old accused molester, who is her grandfather, after he was acquitted of the charge.
“You bastard, you rot in hell," one of them shouted. "You wait for Him, you’ll answer to His judgment,” screamed another relative in the courtroom on Friday, forcing court officers to remove her.
Magistrate Zulkpli Abdullah had earlier acquitted the former company managing director of four counts of molesting his granddaughter at a condominium and two hotels, here, between April and October 2011.
Zulkpli said the main thrust of the defence was that the charges were a result of a lie and fabricated by the victim’s mother, who is the complainant in the case.
“There is a reasonable doubt that the charges are the result of a conspiracy orchestrated against the accused due to an on-going legal battle over the custody of the victim, who at the material time was under shared custody of the father and mother,” he said.
Zulkpli ruled that the prosecution had failed to prove charges beyond reasonable doubt and therefore discharged and acquitted the grandfather.
He also refunded the bail to the bailor.
The elderly man was seen hugging his wife after being released from the dock, at which point he was further verbally abused by the relatives.
Counsel Noor Azah Aziza confirmed that the woman had since divorced her husband and had sole custody of the now 11-year-old girl.
In the prosecution’s stage of the trial, 16 witnesses testified including the girl, her mother, two doctors, hotel staff and police personnel involved in the investigation.
The grandfather had testified in his own defence, and called on 13 other witnesses.
Prosecutor Nur Hafizah Rajuni said the prosecution would be appealing against the decision.
If the magistrate’s findings are overturned, the grandfather could face a maximum jail term of 10 years, a fine and whipping under Section 354 of the Penal Code for molestation.
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