Off to court: Three of the five accused arriving at the Magistrate’s Court in Port Dickson.
PORT DICKSON: It was supposed to be a birthday party at a hotel here.
But out of the six friends who checked into the hotel, one did not check out – he was found drowned in the pool.
Yesterday, five of them were charged in the Magistrate’s Court with causing the death of their friend who was a partially paralysed person.
D. Maharaj, 36, B. Shanmugaservai, 34, Faezatun Firus Arifin, 42, S. Suvipra, 34 and R. Praveena, 31, pleaded not guilty to causing the death of S. Prawinthan, 38, when the charge was read to them before magistrate Uthman Abd Majid.
The five were charged with committing the offence at the pool of the hotel located along Batu 3, Jalan Pantai, around 2am on July 13.
They were charged under Section 304A of the Penal Code read together with Section 34 of the same Code.
The offence carries a jail term of up to two years, a fine or both, upon conviction.
Deputy public prosecutor Nadia Ezzati Mohd Zainal told the court that the chemist, post-mortem and forensic reports were not ready and that the prosecution was prepared to offer the accused a bail of RM8,000 each.
Lawyer Shamsul Sulaiman, who appeared for Praveena, asked the court for a lower bail as she was not a flight risk.
“My client works for a private company in Subang and would not want to put her job in jeopardy by not attending proceedings,” he said, adding that her father was also present in court to post bail.
Wan Syahir Azmir Wan Mohd Razi, who represented the other four, also requested for a lower amount.
Maharaj, he said, worked as an e-hailing driver and had to provide for a two-year-old son, siblings and a sick mother.
Shanmugaservai, who worked in the medical logistics sector, suffered a heart attack last year and needs regular medical check-ups and has to provide for his siblings.
“Faezatun who lives alone does not have a permanent job while Suvipra, who is an orphan, helps Shanmugaservai with his work,” he said.
Uthman fixed bail at RM4,000 in one surety each and set Sept 3 for mention.
All five accused were also slapped with another charge of self-administering THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol) drugs between midnight and 1am on July 14 at the district police headquarters here.
The five claimed trial to the charge under Section 15(1) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.
Uthman fixed bail at RM2,000 each and fixed Sept 3 for mention.
All six had reportedly checked in at the hotel on July 11 to celebrate a birthday and were supposed to have checked out two days later.
