Published on: Thursday, September 10, 2009 |
Kuala Lumpur: Sabahan celebrity TV presenter Daphne Iking says being in the centre of a controversial case involving her husband and her alleged lover is painful and annoying.
"But I'm able to endure it and have moved on," she said.
Daphne's husband Ryan Chong has dragged Managing Director Choy Khin Ming to court in a private prosecution under Section 498 of the Penal Code for "enticing or taking away or detaining with a criminal intent on a married woman".
"This is not my case. It's funny, my name is associated with the case, but I have got nothing to do with it and therefore I will not be present at any of the hearings," she said.
Daphne, who is currently separated from her husband, said her 21-month-old daughter Isobel means the world to her and "keeps me sane".
She refused to say for how long she has been separated from her husband, as she didn't want it to affect her daughter's life.
"I have lost a couple of jobs because of this publicity, but I have also got some new offers. I am now working in a play, something I always wanted to do," she said.
She said the court case revealed the number of true friends she had, adding her parents and siblings were with her, giving her the moral support she needed.
"I am blessed to have so many caring and understanding friends, but there are one or two who don't understand. But the support of friends and fans is more than I expected."
Meanwhile, at the Kuala Lumpur magistrate's court, magistrate Mohd Faizi Che Abu said he would prepare the grounds of his decision rejecting the defence application to recuse him for Choy's defence counsel Jagjit Singh and Akbardin Abdul Kader to be submitted for their appeal to the High Court.
In the hearing on Aug 22, Akbardin sought for the case to be tried by another magistrate on the grounds that Mohd Faizi had heard the statement of complaint and issued the summons against Choy.
He cited Section 128 of the Criminal Procedure Code that stated that an accused shall be entitled to require that the case be tried by another magistrate when a magistrate takes cognisance of an offence upon his knowledge or suspicion that an offence has been committed.
Mohd Faizi rejected the defence's request to adjourn the case, saying he had no personal knowledge of the offence and had followed the law to determine whether there was sufficient grounds to issue a summons.
On Aug 26, Akbardin filed a notice of appeal against Mohd Faizi's decision to try the case.
But, Mohd Faizi said he was being transferred and the High Court would decide on the magistrate who would hear the case from now on.
The hearing on Dec 9 and 10 will remain.
"We will not withdraw the notice of appeal that we had filed and will wait for a decision from the High Court," Akbardin said.
