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KUCHING: A man walked free from a magistrate’s court here yesterday after being discharged and acquitted from charges of criminal intimidation and causing hurt to his daughters.
Mikail Tan Abdullah, 52, was acquitted from the charges at the end of the prosecution case without being called to enter his defence.
Magistrate Zulhairil Sulaiman ruled that there was no prima facie case against him (Tan) established by the prosecutor.
He faced eight charges – six under Section 323 of the Penal Code, for allegedly causing hurt to his two daughters, aged 17 and 21. Two other charges are for threatening the two girls under Section 506 of the Penal Code.
He committed the offences on several occasions between 2015 and 2016 at their houses in Jalan Dagok and BDC.
Tan was represented by lawyers Shankar Ram and Daniel Ling.
Ling said their submission conflicted between oral and medical evidence produced in court.
He said the two girls claimed to be whacked by their father with rotan, causing injuries, but there was no medical report to prove the act.
The incident was also reported to the police very much later – a few months after the incident, Ling added.
The witnesses, he said, were also not credible and the complainants were trying to implicate things because they were reprimanded.
Tan, however, faces another charge in the Sessions Court for causing hurt to his wife. Trial was set for Jan 15.