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A MEDICAL officer from Penang General Hospital (HPP) has pleaded not guilty to four charges involving the alleged molestation and outraging of modesty of two foreign female patients, in two separate court proceedings held on Friday.
Goon Hoong Tat, 43, entered his pleas before Magistrate Nur Fadrina Zulkhairi in Magistrate’s Court 1, where he was charged with three counts related to one of the victims.
According to the first charge, the accused allegedly outraged the woman’s modesty by instructing her to remove her clothing. He was charged under Section 509 of the Penal Code, which carries a maximum penalty of five years’ imprisonment, a fine, or both.
The second charge accuses him of using criminal force with intent to assault the woman’s modesty by touching her chest, an offence under Section 354 of the Penal Code, which provides for a prison term of up to ten years, a fine, or both.
The third charge alleges that Goon again outraged the victim’s modesty by instructing her to stand and jog on the spot while naked. This offence also falls under Section 509.
All three offences were alleged to have occurred at the Clinical Examination Room of the Forensic Department at HPP on 20 February between 9.15pm and 9.30pm.
The accused denied all three charges and requested a trial.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Lau Shavin proposed bail of RM7,000 for each charge and applied for a condition barring the accused from contacting the victim or any witnesses. He also requested that the accused’s passport be surrendered to the court.
However, the defence counsel, N Tishalini, appealed for a lower bail sum, citing the accused’s academic and family circumstances.
“My client has recently completed a master’s degree in forensic pathology. He has served at Penang Hospital since 2010. He is married with two children, supports his elderly parents, and earns a net monthly income of about RM5,000 after deductions,” she said.
She added that bail is meant to secure court attendance, not act as punishment.
Magistrate Nur Fadrina set bail at RM10,500 with one surety for all three charges and declined the prosecution’s request to seize the passport.
In a separate hearing before Magistrate Muhammad Amzar Ismail, Goon was charged with another count of outraging the modesty of a different foreign woman by instructing her to undress and jog in place. The alleged incident took place at the same location on 26 February at 9.30pm.
He pleaded not guilty to the charge, which also falls under Section 509 of the Penal Code.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Siti Nur Farahin Ahmad proposed bail of RM9,000 and requested that the accused be barred from approaching the complainant or witnesses.
The magistrate allowed bail at RM7,000 with one surety and imposed the condition that Goon must not contact or disturb the victim or witnesses until the case concludes.
All four charges are scheduled for mention on 27 November.
Earlier reports revealed that police had launched investigations following four separate complaints against the doctor, three of which were lodged in the Northeast district and one in the Southwest.
One complainant alleged that the doctor instructed her to undress and proceeded to touch her breasts during a consultation for abdominal pain. Dissatisfied with the treatment, she later filed a police report. - October 17, 2025