Kota Kinabalu: A secondary school teacher was ordered to enter his defence on a charge of committing sexual offence against his 13-year-old male student.
Sessions Court Judge Noor Hafizah Mohd Salim made the order for Mohd Zubir Mohd Taha, 31, without his presence on Monday as he has absconded.
Noor Hafizah ruled that the prosecution had established a prima facie case against Mohd Zubir and fixed Sept 22 this year for defence.
The court also issued a fresh warrant of arrest for Mohd Zubir and to be reviewed on the same day.
Mohd Zubir is accused of committing the offence against the boy by holding him and performing masturbation on the boy.
The offence allegedly took place between 11pm on May 17, 2019 and 1am on May 18, 2019 in a unit at the Universiti Utama Condominium in Telipok, Manggatal.
The charge under Section 14 (a) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017 carries a jail term of up to 20 years and whipping, upon conviction.
During the proceedings, the court was also satisfied upon listening to the testimony given by the investigation officer that an attempt to execute the warrant of arrest as well to locate Mohd Zubir has been done but remained futile.
In the event a warrant of arrest is not executed, the investigation officer to testify on the latest status of the warrant of arrest and fresh investigation diary must be produced on that day.
The prosecution called four witnesses during the hearing.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Megat Mahathir Megat Tharih Affendy appeared for the prosecution while Mohd Zubir was not represented.
