00:01A former caretaker at an unlicensed children's welfare home in Batu Caves has been sentenced to 36 years in jail
00:08and six strokes of the cane after pleading guilty to sexually abusing five young boys in his care.
00:15The Ampang Sessions Court handed down the sentence on Thursday against 25-year-old Retna Velu, who faced nine charges
00:22of physical and non-physical sexual assault against five male victims, aged between 8 and 13.
00:28The charges were read in Tamil before Judge Ho Kwong Chin, and the accused, who was unrepresented, pleaded guilty to
00:35all counts.
00:36For each set of three charges, the court imposed individual jail terms ranging from 5 to 12 years, running separately,
00:43bringing the total to 36 years' imprisonment, in addition to the caning sentence.
00:47The offences were committed at the welfare home between November 2025 and March this year.
00:52The abuse came to light after several residents of the welfare home disclosed what had happened to them to the
00:58Selangor-based Pertubuhan Kebangkitan Tiga Tangan.
01:02Investigations revealed the victims were woken from their sleep before the accused carried out the assaults, in separate incidents, across
01:09different areas of the home, including a bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen.
01:13The victims were also allegedly threatened not to tell anyone, out of fear they would be scolded or beaten.
01:21A subsequent medical examination at Selayang Hospital confirmed injuries consistent with the abuse, including both old and fresh tears, before
01:29the accused was arrested on the 3rd of April.
01:32Retna appealed for a lighter sentence.
01:34However, Deputy Public Prosecutor Mohamed Hairulikram Hairuddin stressed that the crimes were severe and involved children.
01:42He noted that the impact of such offences would follow the victims for the rest of their lives, and that
01:48the sentence must reflect the gravity of the crime.
01:50This is not the first sentence handed to Retna in connection with this case.
01:55On the 21st of May, the same court had already sentenced him to 11 years in jail and 5 strokes
02:01of the cane, after he pleaded guilty to 6 separate counts involving two other boy victims aged 8 and 10.
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