April 14 sentencing for trio who forced students to lick road surface
THE STAR
PETALING JAYA: Three teenagers pleaded guilty at the magistrate’s court here to bullying two junior school mates by asking them to lick the road surface.
School leaver Tan Jze Keong, 18, college student Lim Boo Kean, 19, and a 17-year-old changed their plea to guilty before magistrate Fadzlin Suraya Mohd Suah yesterday.
On Feb 5, the three had claimed trial to asking two 15-year-olds to kneel and lick the road surface with the intention to outrage the victims’ modesty.
The sentence for them, however, has yet to be decided, pending a welfare department report and Fadzlin fixed April 14 for sentencing.
They were accused of committing the offence behind a secondary school compound in Sea Park, Kelana Jaya, here at 1pm on Jan 29.
They were charged under Section 509 of the Penal Code which carries a maximum of five years jail or fine or both, if convicted.
Lawyer Suraj Singh acted for Tan and Lim while the 17-year-old was not represented.
Deputy public prosecutor Saphirra Selamat acted for the prosecution.
A video of two secondary school students being bullied by a group of youths went viral on social media.
The 35-second clip, which was posted on a Facebook page last month, garnered over 45,000 views and 500 likes, with at least 180 comments condemning the act.
In the video, a secondary school boy is seen being forced to lick the road surface by a group of youths not in school uniform while another victim stands nearby.
Six male youths, aged between 17 and 20, were arrested over the case.
Three juveniles pleaded guilty when they were charged last month and were sentenced yesterday.
The sentence, however, was not revealed by the court as members of the media were not allowed access to the sentencing.
