KUALA LUMPUR: A 22-year-old unemployed man was sentenced to four years' jail and one stroke of the cane for molesting and kissing the cheeks of an 8-year-old girl in 2022.
Sessions Court Judge Mohd Kafli Che Ali meted out the sentence after Mohamad Zulkhairi Rosli changed his plea to guilty.
The court ordered Zulkhairi to serve the jail sentence from the date of arrest on Aug 3 last year.
He was charged with committing physical assault on the girl for sexual purposes at the 11th floor staircase of a people's housing project building in Sungai Besi here at 3.30pm on June 25, 2022.
The offence under Section 14(a) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017 carries a maximum jail term of 20 years and whipping.
Based on the facts of the case, the girl's 28-year-old mother discovered the incident when the child ran into the house in fear.
When asked, the girl said a man had called her to the staircase where he kissed her cheeks and touched her. Shocked, the girl pushed the man away and fled.
The mother later lodged a police report and the man was arrested near a surau on Aug 3 last year.
Deputy public prosecutor Noorhani Muhmmed Ayub prosecuted.