00:00A foreign worker who molested five women across Kuala Lumpur's public transit network
00:04has had his sentence dramatically increased after the High Court stepped in.
00:08The KL High Court on Wednesday handed down a stiffer punishment to Muhammad Ramjan Ali,
00:13a 41-year-old Bangladeshi construction worker,
00:16convicted of outraging the modesty of five women near LRT and MRT stations in the capital.
00:23Justice Datuk Aslam Zainuddin sentenced him to 18 months in prison
00:27and one stroke of the cane, tripling the original jail term handed down
00:30by four magistrates' courts on May 6th, which had ordered just six months' jail
00:34and a fine of RM14,500.
00:37Earlier, the prosecution pushed hard for a deterrent sentence,
00:41arguing that the courts must send a clear message to the public.
00:45Deputy Public Prosecutor Farida Nurdini Bahroon told the court that
00:49groping and touching commuters in crowded public spaces is not normal conduct
00:53and that no reasonable person would behave this way.
00:56She also called for Ramjan to be deported once his sentence is served.
01:00The accused's lawyer, Datuk Dr. Mohamad Raghzuan Ibrahim,
01:04requested that his client be repatriated to Bangladesh,
01:07saying his family is ready to bear all costs.
01:10He told the court that Ramjan is experiencing emotional distress
01:14and that his brother, who was present in court,
01:17is arranging for him to return home for medical treatment.
01:20The defence also asked for the fine to be converted to a concurrent jail term,
01:24as Ramjan is unable to pay.
01:27Justice Aslam Zainuddin ordered the imprisonment to start from the date
01:31of the accused's arrest on April 27th.
01:34For one of the cases, the accused is ordered to be caned once.
01:38For one of the cases, the accused is where the people are
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