KUALALUMPUR: Police have managed to track down a Datin who disappeared after pleading guilty of abusing her Indonesian maid, to ensure that she attends upcoming court proceedings.
Selangor police chief, Datuk Mazlan Mansor, said efforts to track the woman down began after police received a notice from the court. However, he did not disclose when they received the notice, or the woman’s whereabouts.
“We used specific methods to track her down. She has already agreed to be present in court.
“Don’t ask when she will be present (in court), but hopefully, it will be in the near future,” he told NSTP.
Asked on the woman’s Datin status, Mazlan said police cannot confirm whether she has the title.
“Throughout the investigation process, we never said she was a Datin. You (the media) said so,” said Mazlan.
On Wednesday, Rozita Mohamad Ali, 44, was supposed to appear before the High Court with her surety for the hearing of the prosecution’s application to review the good behaviour bond imposed on her by the Petaling Jaya Sessions Court, last week.
Judge Datuk Seri Tun Majid Tun Hamzah gave the prosecution a weeks’ time to locate Rozita and her surety after the duo failed to turn up today.
He fixed March 29 to hear the prosecution’s application.
Selangor head of prosecution Muhamad Iskandar Ahmad told the court that the prosecution’s attempt to serve a notice to Rozita and her surety, who is a Royal Malaysia Air Force (RMAF) personnel, for them to appear in court, proved futile.
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.