KUALA LUMPUR: A man accused of using criminal force to outrage the modesty of a woman at the Maluri LRT station in July has been ordered to undergo psychiatric tests at Hospital Bahagia in Ulu Kinta, Perak.
Magistrate Illi Marisqa Khalizan issued the order today after accused Shahron Nizam Alias, 48, pleaded guilty to the offence.
The accused, who was unrepresented, pleaded to the court that he was unaware of his actions.
"I did not realise it. If I did, I would not have done it. I have an illness," said the accused, an unemployed man.
Illi Marisqa rejected Shahron's guilty plea after the prosecution also raised issues of insanity.
This was because as of today's proceedings, Shahron was being treated for mental health issues at a hospital.
"The court cannot accept the accused's guilty plea and it cannot be a conditional plea.
"This is because if you plead guilty, for sure you are aware of your actions," she said.
She ordered the accused to undergo psychiatric tests under Section 342 of the Criminal Procedure Code as he was suspected to be of unsound mind.
Shahron was accused of committing the offence on a 28-year-old woman with the purpose of outraging her modesty at the station's platform.
He was charged under Section 354 of the Penal Code which carries a maximum 10 year jail or fine or whipping.
Earlier, deputy public prosecutor Zuhairi Osman told the court that the accused's mental state was unsatisfactory.
"He suffers from schizophrenia and did not know what he had done. He is also currently receiving treatment," he said.
On July 31, then city police chief Datuk Seri Mohd Shuhaily Mohd Zain said the suspect was seeking psychiatric treatment at Kuala Lumpur Hospital.
A minute-long viral video showed a man clad in black T-shirt and jeans holding down a woman who was screaming for help.
Several LRT users tried to break them apart by punching and kicking the man while pulling the girl away from him.
The woman was saved and ran off without her shoes.
The man then stood up and fixed his T-shirt and took the woman's shoes and used it to bang on the LRT coach door while screaming "buka pintu (open the door)".