SIBU: Kueh Chiow Huat, the prime prosecution witness in the trial of the purported gang leader Wong Leh Ing (Lee Long) and seven of his cohorts, told the Sessions Court here yesterday how he was tortured by his captors.In his graphic details to the court, 31-year-old Chiow Huat, who is better known as Ah Huat, said he was tortured with an electric racket (used for killing mosquitoes).
He said his captors touched his body with the rackets at least 10 times.
Lee Long and the seven others are facing eight criminal charges under the Penal Code.
The charges range from causing grievous hurt to wrongful confinement and gang robbery.
The seven others are Wee Teck Hong @ Ah Lek, 40, Yong Ching Lung @ Chi Lung, 22, Yong Kie Teck @ Noney, 37, Hii Chie Peng @ Tua Tao, 35, Lau Ang Ho @ Ang Ho, 30, Matthew Soong Chan Chen @ Matthew, 32, and Wong Kong Yew @ Monkey, 30.
Asked by defence counsel Orlando Chua, Ah Huat said he revealed to the doctor that he was beaten up and tortured with the electric racket when he was hospitalised.
Asked to describe the racket, Ah Huat said it looked like a badminton racket which could be easily obtained anywhere in the market.
Chua: You were asked to put your fingers into the mosquito net?
Ah Huat: Yes, my fingers were put through the net.
Chua: How many fingers did you put through the net?
Ah Huat: They asked me to put all of my five fingers through the net and I was also asked to place my palm on it.
Chua: When they turned on the electricity of the racket, your fingers were still in the net?
Ah Huat: Correct.
Chua: How many times did this action take place?
Ah Huat: Ten to 20 times. In fact, it was on-going for the whole day.
Ah Huat was also asked to recall how long did each contact with the net take.
He said he could not tell.
“All I know is when they turned on the racket, I felt the electric shock.”
Chua: Apart from the electric shock, did you smell anything?
Ah Huat: No, but I felt terrible pain.
Ah Huat disagreed with Chua when the latter suggested that his fingers were burned when he was touched with the racket.
He also disagreed with Chua that the metal net of the racket could have been dislodged and no electric current had been produced.
Ah Huat also told the court that subsequently, Noney and Chi Lung took turns to aim a Samurai sword above his head. He said all these were done to force him to pay back the money that he owed.
He told the court that he was frightened at the material time and as he was in captivity, he did not stand a chance to lodge a police report.
However, he said he did tell a police officer when he was hospitalised.
Chua: You never whispered a word to the officer.
Ah Huat: I disagree.
Chua: Officially, there was no police report about Noney and Chi Lung.
Ah Huat: I don’t know.
Chua: You don’t know whether you had lodged a police report or not?
Ah Huat: I’m not sure.
Chua: In the police investigation, no Samurai sword was found.
Ah Huat: Not sure.
Chua: I put it to you that there was no such discovery because the incident never happened.
Ah Huat: I disagree.
Judge Dean Wayne Daly adjourned the hearing till Jan 20.