KOTA KINABALU: A religious school teacher has pleaded not guilty at a Sessions Court here to two charges of sexually assaulting an 11-year-old female pupil.
He claimed trial when the charges were read out to him before Sessions Court Judge Amir Shah Amir Hassan.
The teacher, who started working in the school at the end of 2021, was charged with committing the assault on the Year Five pupil on March 2022 and January 2023.
He was charged under sections 14(a) and 14(d) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017, which provide for jail terms of up to 20 years and caning.
The two charges were read together with Section 16(c) of the same Act, which carries an additional maximum five-year jail sentence and not less than two strokes of the rotan.
The man was allowed bail of RM5,000 for each charge with two sureties. The court set March 24 for mention.
According to the charge sheet, the teacher had allegedly committed the offence while teaching the girl in the teachers’ room in the school.
He was alleged to have changed the time for the lessons, which were usually held on weekends during the day at the school’s surau, to Monday and Tuesday nights in March last year.
It was said that in the same month, he began touching the girl’s thigh and chest, which was witnessed by her younger brother, who attended the same classes.
He was also accused of inserting his finger into the girl’s private parts when she sat in front of him in January.
The teacher was arrested after the girl’s parents lodged a police report on Feb 14.
