KUALA LUMPUR: A Datin who failed to appear in court for a sentencing review over a maid abuse case is believed to be still in the country.
Immigration Department director-general Datuk Seri Mustafar Ali said checks showed that she had not left the country.
“Acting on court order, Datin Rozita Mohamad Ali has been blacklisted from leaving the country,” he told the New Straits Times Press when contacted today.
Rozita, 44, was supposed to appear before the Shah Alam High Court yesterday with to review the good behaviour bond imposed on her by the Petaling Jaya Sessions Court, last week.
Selangor head of prosecution Muhamad Iskandar Ahmad told the court the prosecution’s attempt to serve a notice to Rozita and her surety, who is a member of the Royal Malaysia Air Force (RMAF), for them to appear in court, proved futile.
“We went to the respondent’s (Rozita) house in Damansara and her family home in Melaka, but no one was at either address.
“We also tried to serve the notice to the bailor’s address at the RMAF base in Subang but the house was vacant. But we have pasted the notice at the bailor’s house,” he had said.
On March 15, Petaling Jaya Sessions judge Mohammed Mokhzani Mokhtar let Rozita off with a mere good behaviour bond of five years, even though the prosecution had pressed for a jail sentence considering the severity of the crime.
Rozita had admitted abusing Suyanti Sutrinso, 19, using a kitchen knife, a steel mop, a clothes hanger and an umbrella in 2016.
She caused multiple injuries to the victim’s head, hands, legs and internal organs between 7am and 12pm on Dec 21, 2016 at a house in Mutiara Damansara.
Rozita was initially charged under Section 307 of the Penal Code for attempted murder, which carries a maximum jail sentence of 20 years upon conviction.
However, the charge was later amended to causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means, under Section 326 of the Penal Code.
The accused pleaded guilty to the lesser charge and Mokhzani sentenced her to be bound over for five years on a good behaviour bond of RM20,000.
Mokhzani’s decision subsequently sparked nationwide outrage, from members of the public to lawmakers and non-governmental organisations calling for a review of the sentence.
As of press time, some 70,000 people have signed an online petition (https://www.change.org/p/dato-equal-justice) calling for justice to be served equally to the rich and poor following the Sessions Court decision, well above the set target of 50,000 signatures before it would be forwarded to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said.
The petition claims that Rozita’s actions against Suyanti should have resulted in a “stricter punishment” instead of a mere good behaviour bond.