KOTA KINABALU: A 20-year-old undocumented man will spend the next six months behind bars for exposing himself to a woman in Putatan about two weeks back.
Md Rosdaniel Abdullah, an unemployed individual, pleaded guilty before Magistrate Wan Farrah Farriza Wan Ghazali to insulting the modesty of a 25-year-old woman on Nov 17 at 9am on the stairs of Block C, Putatan Platinum Apartment.
Magistrate Wan Farrah Farizza allowed Rosdaniel to run his jail sentence from the date of his arrest, and referred him to the Immigration Department.
He was charged under Section 509 of the Penal Code, which carries a penalty of up to five years in jail, a fine, or both.
The prosecution told the court that on the day in question, the complainant was approached by an unknown man who suddenly showed his private part to her.
Distressed by the incident, the woman reported it to the apartment’s residents’ WhatsApp group and then lodged a police report at the Putatan police station.
Rosdaniel was detained by a security guard at 9.40am that same day, before being handed to the police.
The complainant later identified Rosdaniel as the man responsible for the act.
Unrepresented in court, Rosdaniel asked for a lighter sentence, explaining that he had an elderly mother and a sibling still in school.
However, Deputy Public Prosecutor Muhammad Haikal Hazwan Md Yatin argued for a deterrent sentence, considering the nature of the offence.
He also informed the court that Rosdaniel had no previous convictions but was undocumented.