C
Cao Pi
Guest
Aug 6, 2010
Jailed for religious insult
<!-- by line --> By Khushwant Singh
<!-- end by line -->
IN THE first case of its kind, air-con repairman Andrew Kiong Kheng Kiat, 44, was jailed two weeks on Friday for wounding the religious feeling of a couple. A district court heard that on the evening of Feb 2 last year, housewife Halinah Barudin, 38, found a card on the windscreen of her car.
Written on it, were questions that cast aspersions on Prophet Muhammad.
Upset, she and her husband Haji Mohamad Dahar Dollah, an air steward, approached the management of the condominium to view the footage of the closed-circuit television cameras in the basement car park. It showed Kiong putting the card on the couple's car at about 5.30pm on that day.
Mr Mohamad Dahar, 40, then went to the police and Kiong was tracked down and questioned. He admitted to printing 16 such cards and had placed eight on cars that he believed were owned by Muslims. He was unable to specify the exact locations. He had thrown away the remaining eight cards after the authorities caught up with him.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Adrean Loo said that while previous offenders had been charged with promoting ill-will and hostility between the different races under the Sedition Act, the offence of wounding the religious feelings of another person was equally serious, as both offences carry the maximum punishment of a fine and a three-year jail term. Kiong, who was expressionless during the hearing, looked resigned as he was led away in handcuffs.
