KUALA LUMPUR: A man allegedly seen in a viral video mercilessly punching and kicking a woman inside an elevator at the Taman Mutiara Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) station, here, was charged at the Sessions Court today.
Clad in a black T-shirt, air-conditioner repair man G. Thinathayaalan, 25, calmly pleaded not guilty to the charge before judge Mahyon Talib.
He was charged with robbing bank manager Lee Meei Shan, 40, by voluntarily causing hurt to the victim and then fleeing with the latter’s MyKad, driving licence, two ATM cards and two credit cards as well as RM400 in cash.
He allegedly committed the offence inside an elevator at the MRT station in Cheras at about 6.45am on Feb 14.
The charge under Section 394 of the Penal Code carries a maximum sentence of 20 years imprisonment and shall be liable to whipping, upon conviction.
Deputy public prosecutor N. Joy Jothy did not offer bail to the accused, deeming the incident as "cruel".
“The incident at the MRT was caught on CCTV (closed-circuit television) camera and the CCTV footage of the incident has gone viral.
“The incident was just cruel,” she said.
The judge did not allow bail and fixed March 15 for mention.
The case came to light when a CCTV camera recording of a woman being beaten up and then robbed in an elevator went viral on social media, resulting in a huge outcry from Netizens.
The woman was alone with her assaulter in the elevator when the incident occurred at about 6.45am.
The victim suffered numerous injuries from the beating.
Meanwhile, before judge Emilia Kaswati Mohamad Khalid, Thinathayaalan claimed trial to committing armed robbery against Bangladeshi Hossain Mobarok and fleeing with eight boxes of Dunhill cigarettes from a convenience store 15 minutes before the incident at the MRT station occured.
The accused was charged with committing the offence at the KK Mart convenience store at Taman Taynton View, Cheras at 6.30am on the same day.
The charge under Section 392/397 of the Penal Code carries a maximum sentence of 20 years imprisonment and shall be liable to a fine and whipping, upon conviction.
The court fixed March 18 for mention.