Day in court: Shahrul (third from left) and Zulaikha being led out of court by policemen after claiming trial to all charges at the Selayang Sessions Court. — Bernama
KUALA LUMPUR: An immigration officer and his wife were charged with a string of abuses against an Indonesian woman who was allegedly forced to be their maid.
Shahrul Azyrin Ahmad, 30, and his wife Zulaikha Nordin, 26, were charged in the Selayang Sessions Court with grievously injuring the 22-year-old woman using metal rods and a rotan.
The couple are also accused of human trafficking.
Shahrul and Zulaikha were hit with two more charges in a magistrate’s court for employing the Indonesian woman without a legal work permit and illegally withholding her passport.
The alleged offences occurred at their home in the Simfoni Heights condominium, Jalan Medan Selayang, Gombak.
The two claimed trial to all the charges.
DPP Sharifah Zulia Balqish urged Sessions Court judge Tasnim Abu Bakar not to grant bail because causing physical injury were serious and non-bailable offences.
Defence lawyer Mohamad Zahid Ahmad pleaded for low bail amount, saying Shahrul was the sole earner for the family, which included two children, aged three years and six months.
He added that the six-month-old was still breastfeeding.
“To deny bail would deny these children of their guardians and breadwinner," said Mohamad Zahid.
Co-counsel M. Sivam said there was no chance of his clients harassing witnesses, so there should be no issue to offer bail.
Tasnim allowed bail at RM7,000 with one surety for each charge, and ordered Shahrul and Zulaikha's passports be surrendered and that they report to a police station on the first and third Saturday of each month.
Magistrate Namirah Hanum Mohamed Albaki set bail at RM6,000 with one surety for each charge.
The courts fixed May 18 for next mention.
