A soldier and his wife claimed trial in the Sessions Court here today to ill-treating the latter’s 10-year-old son.

Mohd Farid Fikri Mohamad, 32, and Fatimah Muhammad Zain, 37, are accused of chaining the boy by the neck to a gas cylinder at a house in Indera Mahkota 1/13, Bandar Indera Mahkota in Kuantan, between 1 am and 9.15 am on Oct 5.

The charge under Section 31(1)(a) of the Child Act 2001, punishable under Section 31(1) of the same Act, carries a fine not exceeding RM50,000 or maximum 20 years jail, or both, upon conviction.

The duo also claimed trial for neglecting the child between 8 am on Sept 31 and 10.30 pm on Oct 4, at the same place.

The alleged victim is now living with his brother at their father’s house in Melaka.

Judge Unaizah Mohd set RM6,000 as bail with one surety for each of the accused, and Jan 9, 2018, for remention.

Earlier, counsel Noor Svetlana Mohd Noor Nordin urged the court to set a bail sum lower than the RM8,000 proposed by deputy public prosecutor Shahrul Ekhsan Hassim.

"Mohd Farid Fikri’s monthly income is only RM2,000. His wife is unemployed and is four months pregnant. They have to repay their housing loan of RM950 and a car loan of RM800 monthly.

“They have to spend RM500 monthly for the schooling expenses of their five children, of which three are Fatimah’s, from an earlier marriage. Anyway, only the children aged 13, six, and two and a half years, are staying with them now,” she said.

The lawyer also told the court that Mohd Farid Fikri worked as a grass-cutter in his spare time while his wife sold cakes.

She said Mohd Farid Fikri had been in the army for 13 years without any bad record, which was authenticated by his superior who came to court today to offer moral support.

-- Bernama