Every Malaysian irrespective of race or creed should view with revulsion the abuse of Indonesian maid Nirmala Bonat. No human in his right mind should treat another human being with such cruelty.

What happened to is unforgivable and if the alleged perpetrator is found guilty by the court, she should be severely punished.

However, the outpouring of emotional statements by people who should know better has cast an aspersion on the fairness of our judicial system. For instance, the statement by the attorney-general that he would press for the maximum 67 year jail term for the four charges.

The AG should know that even manslaughter cases seldom attract such a harsh punishment and if his intention is to influence the court in giving such a draconian custodial sentence, then he has succeeded in making a mockery of our judicial system.

As mentioned earlier, if the accused is proven guilty in a court of law - without the aid of emotional statements and outbursts by ministers, politicians and the AG - then by all means the accused should be punished.

But she should be punished within the context of a fair and equitable judicial system and not by a kangaroo court. It can be construed with very good justification that the AG's vehement objection to bail seems to have influenced the judge in denying bail to the accused.

While mindful that we should dispense justice to Nirmala, we must also be mindful that in the course of pursuing justice, we must not trample on the rights of the accused.