KUALA LUMPUR: The housewife who abused Indonesian maid Nirmala Bonat failed in her bid to strike out her conviction by claiming that the previous judge had been tricked into finding her guilty.
The Sessions Court dismissed the application by Yim Pek Ha, 47, ruling that she had failed to prove how the maid “tricked and defrauded” the previous judge into arriving at that decision.
Judge Rohatul Akmar Abdullah agreed yesterday with the prosecution’s preliminary objection that the burden fell on the accused to prove such accusations of fraud.
Yim’s lawyer Kamsah Bakar submitted that Nirmala had brought up false issues to manipulate the prosecution into deceiving the court.
He said the maid claimed Yim hurt her in March 2004, contradicting the expert medical report that the injuries occurred later.
However, DPP Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin said the defence failed to provide a clear chronology or adequate information, lacking even an affidavit by the applicant.
The application also failed to state under which law the Sessions Court had authority to set aside the conviction, he added.
The court dismissed the application and ordered RM3,000 in costs paid to the prosecution.
Kamsah told reporters later that he had not received instructions from Yim’s husband Hii Ik Ting on whether or not to appeal.
Yim was charged with four counts of causing grievous hurt to Nirmala at her apartment in Villa Putera, Jalan Tun Ismail, Kuala Lumpur, in January, March and April 2004.
She was found guilty and sentenced to 18 years’ jail by the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court on three counts of causing grievous hurt to Nirmala with a hot iron and hot water, but was acquitted on the fourth charge of causing hurt to the maid with a metal cup.
On appeal to the Kuala Lumpur High Court, her jail term was reduced to 12 years.
The High Court affirmed Yim’s conviction on the first and second charges but acquitted her of the third charge.
It also overturned an acquittal by the Sessions Court on the fourth charge.
On Oct 1, 2012, the Court of Appeal upheld the High Court decision.
Read more at http://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2017/08/31/conviction-stands-for-woman-in-maid-abuse-case-yim-fails-to-prove-how-nirmala-tricked-and-defrauded/#kDjVrqwf1ox0D0qf.99
