Trader tells court he kidnapped 2 girls because he wanted daughters

A pisang goreng seller has pleaded guilty to kidnapping two girls aged 6 and 8 at a residential area in Jeram near Sungai Buloh, Selangor on July 19.

Magistrate Siti Hajar Ali sentenced him to 24 months at the Sungai Besar Magistrate’s Court this morning.

He was also fined RM2,000 or two months’ jail if he failed to pay, Kosmo! reported.

Mohamad Shahriza Othman, 31, via his lawyer said he took the children because he had two sons and wanted two daughters, the daily reported.

“The accused had done so (kidnapped the children) because he wanted daughters. He has two sons and has yet to be blessed with daughters.

“He has no prior criminal record, this is his first offence and he regrets his decision (telah insaf),” his lawyer Muhd Muqri Mohd Khairi, from the National Legal Aid Foundation, told the court.

He also said his client is the sole breadwinner for his family, and earns RM2,000 a month.

Shahriza was charged under Section 363 of the Penal Code for kidnapping, which carries the maximum sentence of seven years in prison, and a fine.

RM50 bait

According to the charge sheet, Shahriza had taken the girls while they were playing in front of their homes at Taman Ikan Emas in Jeram, at 6.30pm, Sinar Harian reported.

He lured them into his Perodua Bezza by inviting them to accompany him to send a letter, and promised to pay them RM50.

He took the girls to a sundry shop and various locations around Jeram, and stopped at his home for a short while before returning them to Taman Kelisa, near where they were abducted, at 7.45pm.

Police arrested Shahriza at his home at 2.40am yesterday.

This came after another kidnapping case this week where a six-year-old girl was safely found at a budget hotel in Batang Kali, Selangor on Tuesday, four days after she went missing at a shopping mall in Pasir Gudang.

Police arrested five people in the case.

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