Court of Appeal reinstates jail and caning on ex-religious teacher who sexually assaulted male student

PUTRAJAYA: The 13-year jail term imposed on a former religious teacher of a Tahfiz and orphanage for physically sexually abusing a male student has been reinstated.

A three-judge Court of Appeal panel led by Justice Datuk Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim also reinstated the sentence of three strokes of the cane imposed by the Sessions Court.

Mohd Faiza Rizza Mohd Ropi, 38, who now works as a petrol station attendant, was acquitted and discharged of the charges by the High Court after he successfully appealed his conviction, leading to an appeal by the prosecution.

The panel also ordered that the time Mohd Faiza had spent in prison – following his failed attempt to obtain a stay of execution of his sentence pending the hearing of his appeal to the Supreme Court – should be included in his overall sentence.

Judges Datuk Mohamed Zaini Mazlan and Datuk Azmi Ariffin also reinstated the Sessions Court’s order for Mohd Faiza to undergo counseling while in custody and be placed under police supervision for two years after his eventual release.

Judge Azmi said in his unanimous decision that the prosecution had successfully proven all elements of the charge under Section 14(a) of the Sexual Offenses Against Children Act.

He said the court disagreed with the Judicial Commissioner’s earlier findings that the charge against Mohd Faiza should have been filed under Section 14(d) of the Act.

He also said the court found no contradiction in the victim’s testimony and his police report.

Judge Azmi said a police report by Mohd Faiza, which was filed two years after he was charged in court, alleged that he was falsely accused by the victim.

Mohd Faiza was sentenced to 13 years in prison and three strokes of the cane by the Sessions Court on November 26, 2021, for physically assaulting the student, who was 17 years old, in the director’s room of a tahfiz and orphanage hostel in Temerloh, Pahang, at 2 a.m. in June 2019.

On May 11, 2023, the Supreme Court quashed the Sessions Court verdict and Mohd Faiza was acquitted and discharged. The Public Prosecution Service subsequently appealed to the Court of Appeal.

Deputy Public Prosecutor P. Sarulatha appeared for the prosecution, while lawyers Shashi Devan and Muhammad Nazreen Jaafar Abdullah Mohd represented Faiza. – Bernama