KUALA LUMPUR – Netizens are up in arms over a former security guard’s potential release from prison this year after he was convicted for brutally raping 10-year-old Nurul Huda Abdul Ghani.
In a post on social media platform X, user @PejuangPH said the convict, Mohd Abbas Danus Baksan, 68, could be freed from imprisonment sometime this year after completing his 20-year jail sentence for raping Nurul Huda in Gelang Patah, Johor on January 17, 2004.
Responding to the post, which has since garnered more than 19,000 retweets and 1.8 million views, a majority of users expressed their outrage over the potential release and expressed their fear over having the rapist walking around freely in the public sphere.
“Nurul Huda could be 30-years-old today, studying at university or working on her career. Stay safe and be vigilant everyone,” said user @SarahWarao.
Another user, @KhairulAqmal, recalled how the late national entertainment icon Adibah Noor had dedicated one of her songs, Terlalu Istimewa, to Nurul Huda. The song was released a year after the child’s murder.
While one user by the name of @KanyakumariDamo claimed that Malaysia does not have a sexual offenders registry, her assertion was corrected by lawyer Azira Aziz, who pointed out that the nation’s sexual offenders registry exists, but cannot be accessed by the public online.
“The assumption is most daycare centres, public/private schools etc do preliminary checks for babysitter/caregiver/teachers before hiring, but I don’t know if this is enforced,” Azira said.
It was previously reported in 2019 that parents, schools and daycare centres were strongly encouraged to use a then-newly introduced registry for perpetrators of child sexual crimes to screen people who could care for children.
Applicants who want to verify if an individual has committed any sexual offence against children will have to provide the person’s IC number to the Social Welfare Department, fill in a form and state their relation to the individual.
Results will either be produced instantly, if done at the department’s state office, or take up to five working days, if done at the department’s district office.
The registry was introduced during Hannah Yeoh’s time as deputy women, family and community development minister under the Pakatan Harapan government led by former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
On January 17, 2004, a visibly weakened, naked, bound and gagged Nurul Huda was found in the toilet of a TNB power station after she went missing en route to buying groceries for her family.
It is said when authorities initially attempted to search the compound, they faced resistance from security guard Abbas, who supposedly threatened police with a parang in an attempt to prevent them from carrying out their checks.
The young girl’s cause of death was determined to be asphyxiation caused by manual strangulation. She also suffered from various injuries related to rape and sodomy.
This was revealed at the Johor Bahru High Court during the 2004 trial against Abbas, who was sentenced to death on August 27 after the high court found him guilty of murdering Nurul Huda.
The Court of Appeal upheld the conviction on July 3, 2006, prompting Abbas to appeal to the Federal Court, which in 2008 set aside his death sentence, citing incomplete investigations and insufficient evidence.
He was instead made to serve a 20-year jail sentence after pleading guilty at the Johor Bahru sessions court to raping the child, while he was also spared the 24 lashes imposed on him as he was over the age of 50 during the appeal.
Former chief justice Tun Zaki Azmi, who delivered the unanimous decision by the three-member panel, reportedly said the circumstantial evidence submitted by the prosecution did not irresistibly point to Abbas’ guilt.
The rapist had earlier claimed to have been assisted by two accomplices. One individual by the name of Suyaimi Mohd Zain was made a prosecution witness while another, known as “Jojo” was never produced in court as he was never located. – February 19, 2024