Kota Kinabalu: An unemployed woman was fined RM3,000 or one month’s jail by the Magistrate’s Court, Monday, for threatening to expose an intimate video of a man unless he paid her RM30,000.
Halizah Md Hiah, 30, pleaded guilty before Magistrate Wan Farrah Farriza Wan Ghazali to committing the offence against a 34-year-old man on Feb 6, this year, at 6.59pm, at a condominium, here.
The charge against Halizah stated that Halizah had sent a WhatsApp message to the man stating “Apa kata kau cari 30k, sebelum aq aib kau mlm ini juga (You’d better find RM30,000 before I disgrace you tonight)’, intending to cause fear and alarm.
window.googletag = window.googletag || {cmd: []};googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.defineSlot('/22826383987/dailyexpress_inline', [1, 1], 'gpt-passback').addService(googletag.pubads());googletag.enableServices();googletag.display('gpt-passback');});The offence under Section 506 of the Penal Code carries a jail term of up to two years or a fine, or both and if the threat involves death or serious injury, the maximum sentence increases to seven years or fine or both on conviction.
The court was informed by the prosecution that the victim lodged a police report on Feb 26, this year, claiming that Halizah had threatened to distribute a sex video involving them unless he paid up.
Investigations revealed that the threat was sent via WhatsApp, and acting on the report, Halizah was arrested by police at 3.20pm that same day, on Feb 26, and a smartphone was seized from her.
A forensic examination confirmed the presence of the threatening message on the phone.
The mobile number was also registered under Halizah’s name, said the prosecution.
In another court, a 33-year-old man was also charged with criminal intimidation for allegedly threatening to harm his ex-wife
Md Hirjan Tusin pleaded not guilty before Magistrate Marilyn Kelvin to threatening to cause injury to his 45-year-old former wife on July 21, this year at 10am, inside a car parked at Jalan Likas,
The court fixed Sept 30 for pre-trial case management and released the accused on a bail of RM2,500 in two sureties with conditions to report to the investigation officer once a month and not to tamper with the complainant.
Earlier, the prosecution proposed bail at RM10,000 while duty counsel Lim Ming Zoong, representing the accused, applied for a lower bail amount.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Arfa Anchal Khan and Inspector Yusdi Basri prosecuted.