Religious teacher JB pleads not guilty to raping and sexually assaulting female students

JOHOR BARU: A 34-year-old religious teacher pleaded not guilty at the Sessions Court here to seven charges of rape and sexual abuse of a female former student.

The accused, Mohd Zulkarnain Mohd Zin, entered the plea after the charges were read to him by Judge Siti Noraida Sulaiman on Monday (Nov 25).

According to the complaint, the suspect raped and sexually assaulted the victim last year when she was 14, and again this year when the victim was 15, without the victim’s consent.

The alleged act took place between December 2023 and August this year between 3:30 pm and 4:30 pm in a storage room of a religious school in Skudai.

The offense fell under section 376(2)(b) of the Criminal Code for rape, which carries a prison sentence of up to 20 years and lashing.

The suspect is also charged under section 14(b) of the Sexual Offenses Against Children Act 2017 for sexual assault, which also carries a prison sentence of up to 20 years, and flogging.

The case was prosecuted by Nur Farah Wahida Shahudin, while the suspect was represented by lawyer Iskandar Shah Ibrahim.

During the proceedings, Nur Farah said the crime was non-bailable; However, if the court were to grant bail, it suggested that bail for all seven charges would be set at RM60,000.

She also proposed three additional deadlines, namely that the suspect should not disturb witnesses or the victim, should report monthly to the nearest police station and surrender his international passport to the court.

Iskandar Shah requested a lower bail of RM30,000 in mitigation as the suspect is a civil servant and only earns about RM3,000 per month; the suspect also has a wife who works as a clinic helper and earns about RM1,800 per month.

The court then set the bail at RM35,000, along with additional conditions. The court also fixed December 30 for the next mention of the case.