A man who had been jailed three months for kicking a woman, was today ordered to be imprisoned 12 months and fined RM1,500 by the Magistrate's Court here for the same offence against another woman on the Jalan Raja Laut pedestrian bridge here, which went viral recently.

Magistrate Rahni Kartini Abd Rahim handed down the punishment to Marmi Zabrin Mian, 34, after he pleaded guilty to causing hurt and criminally assaulting Or Su Lin, 34, an analyst at Bank Negara Malaysia.

The court sentenced 12 months in prison and a fine of RM1,500 or three months' jail in default for causing hurt while a maximum of three months imprisonment for the offence of criminal assault and ordered both sentences to run concurrently from the date of arrest on Nov 8.

He committed the two offences on the pedestrian bridge in Jalan Raja Laut, here, at 1.30pm on Nov 6.

He was charged under Section 323 of the Penal Code which provides for a maximum jail term of one year or a maximum fine of RM2,000 or both upon conviction, and Section 351 of the Penal Code which provides for imprisonment of up to three months or a maximum fine of RM1,000 or both.

When the second charge was read out, the accused standing in the dock asked: "What does assault mean? Can an example be given?"

Magistrate Rahni Kartini then asked the interpreter to read the charge once again and asked whether the accused understood or not, then he responded: "Ok ok, I understand".

Deputy public prosecutor Ahmad Zikri Jaafar urged for a deterrent sentence saying that the accused had caused hurt to a woman in public and previously there were five reports lodged against the accused who used the same modus operandi on his victims.

"He follows his victims from behind and when they go down the stairs, he kicks them from behind causing them to fall. He has not repented even after being jailed previously for the same offence," Ahmad Zikri said.

A 14-second video went viral showing a man suddenly kicking a woman down a flight of stairs on the bridge.

On Sept 15, last year, the Magistrate's Court here sentenced him to three months' jail for the offence of kicking Shakira Mohd Khalid, 28, a secretary at Bukit Aman, without reason in the pedestrian tunnel from Jalan Cenderasari to Dayabumi here.

- Bernama