A 35-year-old man working as a soldier has claimed trial to charges of assault, where he was allegedly caught on film punching a woman in a now-viral clip in Senawang.
The accused, Abdul Hafiz Abu Bakar, made the plea when the charge was read to him before magistrate Syed Farid Syed Ali at the Seremban magistrate’s court today (Apr 7).
M’sian soldier pleads not guilty to punching woman
According to the charge sheet, Abdul Hafiz was accused of intentionally punching a 28-year-old woman in the head at Taman Satria, Senawang, at around 10.20pm on March 29.
The charge was framed under Section 323 of the Penal Code for voluntarily causing hurt, which provides for a jail term of up to a year or a maximum fine of RM2,000 upon conviction, reported NST.
Deputy public prosecutor Nadia Ezzati Mohd Zainal asked for bail to be set at RM2,000 with one surety and requested a mention date for further proceedings.
Abdul Hafiz’s counsel, Chrysandy Lai from the National Legal Aid Foundation, pleaded for the amount to be lower, citing that her client had to support his children, parents, and wife.
The court eventually granted bail at RM2,000 with one surety and scheduled May 19 for case mention for the submission of documents and a full medical report.
What happened
In the viral clip, Abdul Hafiz was seen landing several punches to the female driver after she reportedly hit his kid with her car while he and his family were crossing the road.
As a result of the assault, the woman sustained bruises to her ribs on the right side and swelling at the back of her head, as well as damages to her car.
Her sister later revealed that Abdul Hafiz’s wife had pleaded with her to withdraw the police report, which she declined as she felt doing didn’t do the victim justice.
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