PETALING JAYA: A 24-year-old man was today sentenced to five years in jail and ordered to be given one stroke of the rotan in relation to the vandalism of a statue of a Hindu deity at a temple in Matang, Perak, in October last year.
Investigating officer N Sudermani told FMT that Firdaus Taufek pleaded guilty to a charge of unlawful possession of offensive weapons before Taiping sessions court judge Nabisha Ibrahim.
Firdaus was charged with unlawful possession of two hammers under Section 6(1) of the Corrosive and Explosive Substances and Offensive Weapons Act 1958. He had used the hammers to vandalise the statue.
Section 6(1) of the Act provides for at least five years in prison or a maximum 10-year jail term, and whipping, upon conviction.
Deputy public prosecutor Ng Yan Ni prosecuted while the accused was represented by a lawyer from an NGO.
The labourer claimed trial when he was charged in October last year but changed his plea today.
