Three men jailed six months for stealing mosque donation box

SHAH ALAM - Three men were sentenced to six months’ jail by the Magistrate’s Court here today after pleading guilty to a charge of stealing a mosque donation box in Section 7, Shah Alam on Feb 22.

The accused, K Tineshuaran, 26; R Nishanraj, 22; and S R Danesh, 27, entered their guilty pleas after the charge was read out in Tamil before Magistrate Muhammad Syafiq Sulaiman.

The court ordered all three accused to begin serving their prison sentences from today and also fined them RM4,000 each or an additional three months’ jail should they fail to settle the fines.

They were charged jointly with stealing a stainless steel donation box belonging to Masjid Seksyen 7 Shah Alam, worth RM2,000, without permission at 4am on Feb 22.

The offence under Section 380 of the Penal Code carries a punishment of up to 10 years’ imprisonment and a fine for a first offence, while a second offence may result in imprisonment, a fine, or whipping upon conviction.

Meanwhile, a boy, 17, also pleaded guilty to the same offence in a closed-door proceeding at the same court.

However, Muhammad Syafiq ordered the teenager to be released on RM1,500 bail with one surety and set April 28 for the submission of a character report from the Social Welfare Department.

All the accused were represented by lawyer Swinder Singh, assisted by Ashrul Haikal, while deputy public prosecutor Muaz Khawarizmi Azfar appeared for the prosecution.

Ashrul applied for a postponement of sentencing for the three offenders on the grounds that they were the sole breadwinners of their families and that this was their first offence, which was rejected by Muhammad Syafiq as there were no special grounds of justification. - BERNAMA