Three Myanmar boys were brought before the Bukit Mertajam Magistrates’ Court today over allegations that they threatened to injure a 71-year-old woman in Taman Sri Rambai on October 22.
Two of the boys, aged 11 and 12, pleaded not guilty after the charges were read to them for the second time before Magistrate Roshayati Radellah.
According to the charge, they allegedly acted together to threaten the elderly woman with several objects, including a mop, an iron rod, a long white lamp and a stone.
The alleged incident took place in front of a house at Tingkat Binjai 14, Taman Sri Rambai, at about 6pm on October 22.
They were charged under Section 506 of the Penal Code, read together with Section 34 of the same law. If convicted, they face up to two years in prison, a fine, or both.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Zulfadli Hassan sought bail of RM4,000 for each accused, with one local surety, alongside additional conditions requiring them to surrender their travel documents and report to the nearest police station every fortnight.
He also requested that the boys and their family members be ordered not to approach or disturb the victim, who lives in the same neighbourhood, until the case is concluded.
However, National Legal Aid Foundation (YBGK) lawyer Nur Najihah Ahmad Zulkarnain, representing the three boys, appealed for bail, citing their young ages.
She told the court that two of the accused were 11 while the third was 12, and all three were still attending school.
She also said their fathers worked as contract workers earning RM100 a day, while one of the boys’ mothers worked in a factory and the other two were housewives.
The court subsequently rejected the bail application and fixed November 10 for the appointment of a Myanmar interpreter to facilitate the charges being read again and the submission of documents.
The three boys were seen crying uncontrollably in the courtroom alongside their parents after the court refused bail.
Previously, Kosmo! reported that four Myanmar boys aged between nine and 12 had been detained over the alleged threats against the elderly woman outside her home in Taman Sri Rambai on October 22.
During the incident at about 6pm, the woman had reportedly reprimanded a group of children playing at a nearby playground for making noise.
The children allegedly responded by throwing stones and hurling an iron rod towards her.
