KULIM: A manager of an unregistered welfare home in Padang Serai was fined RM4,500 by the magistrate's court here today after she pleaded guilty to causing injury to an elderly man on Monday.
Magistrate Jamaliah Abd Manap passed down the sentence on the accused L. Vignesvari, 36, when she entered the plea after the charge was read in Tamil by the court interpreter.
She was charged with voluntarily causing hurt on P. Tharmalingan, 69, with a stick at a house in Taman Desa Aman, Sungai Karangan. She had committed the offence at about 3pm on April 22.
Vignesvari was charged under Section 324 of the Penal Code, which carries up to 10 years' imprisonment or with a fine, or with whipping.
Deputy Public Prosecutor S. Pavitra urged the court to impose a deterrent punishment against the accused as the case involved the public interest and as a lesson to the accused and the public.
Lawyer Suhailah Ahmad from the National Legal Aid Bureau, who represented the accused, pleaded for leniency as the accused is a single mother with a child and has no fixed income.
On Tuesday, it was reported that police have arrested the operator and a staff of a welfare home here following a viral video of a woman hitting an elderly man with a stick.
Yesterday, Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri said checks showed that the home was not registered with the Social Welfare Department.
Nancy was reported as saying that once the investigation is completed, the ministry plans to order the closure of the welfare home.