<figure id="attachment_2845734" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2845734" style="width: 1600px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="wp-image-2845734 size-full" src="https://media.freemalaysiatoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ee27c24c-kompleks-mahkamah-muar-file-pic-220824-1.webp" alt="mahkamah muar" width="1600" height="1000" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-2845734" class="wp-caption-text">Abdul Hadi Harun was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment and 24 strokes of the rotan by the Muar sessions court. (File pic)</figcaption></figure>
PETALING JAYA: A former madrasah headmaster was sentenced to seven years&#8217; imprisonment and 24 strokes of the rotan in the Muar sessions court today for sexually assaulting six male students three years ago.
Judge Sayani Nor pronounced the sentence on Abdul Hadi Harun, 37, who pleaded guilty to 16 charges in total, Harian Metro reported.
According to the charges, the widower had assaulted the six students, aged between 12 and 13, at the madrasah’s toilet and in the bathroom of a house in Batu Pahat, Johor, at 3am, 7am and 10.30pm from May to June 29, 2022.
Hadi was charged under Sections 14(a), (b) and (d) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017 for sexual assault of children, read together with Section 16 for offences committed by a person in a relationship of trust.
Section 14 provides for up to 20 years&#8217; imprisonment and whipping, while Section 16 provides for up to five years and no less than two strokes of the rotan.
The court sentenced Hadi to five years&#8217; imprisonment for each charge under Section 14, and two additional years and two strokes of the rotan for those under Section 16, with all sentences to run concurrently.
This means he will only serve seven years, and 24 strokes as per the maximum set by Section 288 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
The court was told that the madrasah’s management lodged a report on June 30, 2022.
Police arrested Hadi at 9.45pm on the same day, and learnt that he had also threatened the victims not to tell anyone about the sexual assaults.
The prosecution was handled by deputy public prosecutor Diyana Najihah Fauzi, while Hadi was represented by lawyer Razak Shariff.

MatchPoint Times

Ex-madrasah headmaster pleads guilty to sexually assaulting 6 boys

Widower Abdul Hadi Harun had been charged with committing the offences at the school’s toilet and in the bathroom of a house in Batu Pahat, Johor, from May to June 29, 2022.

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