PETALING JAYA: A medical graduate and a hotel employee were sentenced to 10 years jail and a stroke of the cane each by the sessions court here today after they plead guilty to a charge of acting as intermediaries in a prostitution activity that was managed through the WeChat mobile application.
Judge Datin Fadzlin Suraya Mohd Suah meted out the punishment on Khairul Azzuar Yusoff, 30, who graduated in medicine from a university in Egypt, and Mohyuddin Ahmad Fajarudin, 24.
When handing down the sentence, Fadzlin Suraya advised them to turn a new leaf by becoming useful and hoped the punishment would bring them remorse.
The two men were charged with committing the offence at a hotel in Subang Jaya in January last year.
Fadzlin Suraya ordered the two men to serve the jail sentence after completing the 14-year imprisonment meted out by Kuala Lumpur sessions court Judge Datin M. Kunasundary last March 23 for acting as pimps and living off immoral earnings.
Meanwhile, Mohyuddin was also sentenced to another 10 years’ jail and two strokes of the cane by sessions court judge Mohd Kamil Nizam, after he pleaded guilty to two counts of living on the earnings of prostitution.
Mohd Kamil ordered Mohyuddin to serve the sentence from the date of his arrest on Feb 7, 2017.
The charges against the two men were made under Section 372(1)(f) and Section 372A(1) of the Penal Code, which provides an imprisonment for up to 15 years and whipping and is also liable to fine, if convicted.
Earlier, deputy public prosecutor Rozaliana Zakaria urged the court to impose a deterrent sentence on both accused considering their act of living off proceeds from prostitution was contrary to religion and moral values.
“The punishment that will be imposed will also send out the message to the public that the act of promoting sexual services via social media is totally wrong and will be subjected to severe penalty.
“Although the victim in this case had committed the act in a consensual manner, the immoral activity could have been prevented if the accused did not give the window of opportunity,” she said.
In mitigation, lawyer Zulaikha Fardi, who represented Khairul Azzuar and Mohyuddin, said both his clients were young offenders and had no previous records.
“In fact, they have repented. Their youth will go wasted if the jail sentence is to be served consecutively,” he said.
According to the facts of the case, a police officer went undercover as a client on the WeChat application which was handled by the two accused, who used the fictitious names of Mr Nakal (Khairul Azzuar) and Santiago (Mohyuddin).
Acting on a tip-off, police conducted a raid and seized two smart phones that were used in the illegal activity. — Bernama
