Erlinda (second left) is escorted by the police after her court proceedings.
KUCHING (Jan 9): An Indonesian woman was sentenced to three months in jail at the Sessions Court for overstaying in the state for 679 days after the expiry of her work permit.
Erlinda, 29, from Lubuk Rawa, Indonesia entered her guilty plea before Judge Mohd Taufik Mohd @ Mohd Yusoff, who ordered her to be referred to the Immigration Department after serving her sentence.
Mohd Taufik also ordered for her jail sentence to take effect from the day of her arrest.
Erlinda was charged under Section 15(1)(c) of the Immigration Act 1959/63, punishable under Section 15(4) of the same Act, which provides for a fine of up to RM10,000 and imprisonment of up to five years, or both.
She committed the offence at an eatery in Lee Ling Commercial Centre, Matang, around 9.20pm on Dec 25, 2022.
Based on the facts of the case, police raided the eatery to eradicate online gambling activities around the area.
Further inspection found that Erlinda, who was one of the employees who worked at the eatery had overstayed in the country for 679 days.
She was then detained and brought to the Padawan District Criminal Investigation Department for further action and investigation.
The investigation found that Erlinda had entered Sarawak through Biawak, Lundu on Feb 15, 2019 and was given a work permit valid until Feb 15, 2021.
She also did not have a valid reason to stay in the state for 679 days after the expiry of her work permit.
DPP Danial Mohamad Ali prosecuted the case while Erlinda was unrepresented by counsel.