Architect charged with molesting 18-year-old boy in sauna

AMPANG: An architect holding the title Datuk was charged today with molesting an 18-year-old boy inside a sauna room at a shopping mall on Sunday.

Datuk Saiful Anuar Abdul Aziz, 61, pleaded not guilty when the charge was read to him before magistrate Siti Nurul Ain Ariffin.

According to the charge sheet, Saiful Anuar was accused of using criminal force against the victim by touching several parts of his body with the intention of outraging his modesty.

The offence was allegedly committed inside a sauna room at a gymnasium in a shopping mall near Taman Melawati at 7.10pm on Oct 18.

He was charged under Section 354 of the Penal Code, which carries a maximum jail term of 10 years, a fine or whipping upon conviction.

Earlier, deputy public prosecutor M. Ramanathan Alias Ashwin proposed bail of RM15,000 and requested additional conditions for the accused to surrender his passport.

However, lawyer K. Theivaendran, representing Saiful Anuar, appealed for lower bail, arguing that his client was not a flight risk.

"We object to the prosecution's application for our client to surrender his passport to the court as he has projects overseas," he said.

The court set bail at RM9,000 with one surety and ordered the accused to surrender his passport to the court.