18 years jail, whipping for brutal assault on woman in MRT lift

A man was sentenced to 18 years in jail and five strokes of the cane by the Sessions Court in Kuala Lumpur today for voluntarily causing hurt to a woman bank manager when robbing her in an MRT Station lift.

Judge Mahyon Talib meted out the punishment to G Thinathayaalan, 26, after he was found guilty of causing injury while committing robbery.

"After hearing arguments from both parties, the court ruled that the accused has failed to raise reasonable doubt and the prosecution has succeeded in proving the case beyond a reasonable doubt," she said after the accused gave his statement of defence from the dock.

The court ordered the accused, who worked as an air-conditioner serviceman, to serve the jail sentence from his date of arrest on Feb 18.

Thinathayaalan was accused of having robbed bank manager Lee Meei Shan, 48, of her identity card, driving license, two bank ATM cards, two bank credit cards and RM400 cash and voluntarily causing hurt to her in a lift at the MRT Station at Taman Mutiara, Cheras at 6.45am on Feb 14.

He was charged under Section 394 of the Penal Code and punishable under the same section which provides for a maximum imprisonment of up to 20 years and a fine or whipping upon conviction.

Earlier, Deputy Public Prosecutor Nurliyana Mohd Jafri pressed for just punishment to serve as a lesson taking into account the seriousness of the offence.

"In this case, the accused had injured the victim that resulted in bruises on her head, face and body and she also suffered trauma following the incident," said the judge.

She said the accused had acted cruelly and that the incident had gained much public attention after a video clip went viral on social media.

Thinathayaalan, who was not represented, appealed for leniency.