A 50-year-old bomoh has begun serving a five-year prison sentence after the Court of Appeal dismissed his final attempt to overturn his conviction for committing acts of carnal intercourse against the order of nature on a 19-year-old woman without her consent.
A three-member panel chaired by Justice Noorin Badaruddin ruled that there were no grounds to interfere with the Sessions Court’s decision, which had earlier been upheld by the High Court.
“The trial judge applied the law correctly in finding the appellant guilty,” Noorin said.
She sat alongside Justices Meor Hashimi Abdul Hamid and Amarjeet Singh.
Following the dismissal of the appeal, the court issued a warrant of committal against Afendi Hassan, who had been out on bail while awaiting the outcome of his appeal.
The Sessions Court had sentenced Afendi to five years’ imprisonment for each of two charges under Section 377C of the Penal Code, with both terms to run concurrently, resulting in an effective jail sentence of five years.
The offences took place on two separate occasions, on July 8 and 9, 2020, at a house in Setia Ecohill, Semenyih, Selangor.
The victim became acquainted with Afendi through her mother, who had met him on a social media platform.
Afendi had introduced himself as a traditional or spiritual healer who could treat people believed to be suffering from disturbances caused by black magic.
He allegedly told the victim’s mother that her daughter was experiencing such disturbances and needed treatment.
During the trial, the victim testified that Afendi used the supposed treatment as a pretext to commit the sexual acts, which she said took place without her consent.
Afendi was represented by lawyer Adi Zulkarnain Zulkafli, while deputy public prosecutor Siti Rafidah Zainuddin appeared for the prosecution.
