KUALA LUMPUR – The RM4,000 fine meted out by the court to a teenager, whose video of being bathed in the manner of a corpse for attempting to steal a mosque’s donation box went viral recently, has been paid in full by a good Samaritan.
Lawyer Azman Abdullah, who is representing 19-year-old Daniel Iskandar pro bono, said the donor who chose to remain anonymous has settled the fine this morning.
“May the kind-hearted donor be rewarded multiple times by Allah, and may Daniel Iskandar learn a lesson from this incident,” he said in a Facebook post earlier today.
Azman also shared an official receipt issued by the Office of the Chief Registrar of Federal Court.
In its ruling yesterday, the Selayang magistrates’ court sentenced Daniel to 10 days in jail and fined RM4,000 after he pleaded guilty to attempting to steal from the Al Islahiah Mosque in an incident in Rawang on January 8.
The court also ordered the accused to serve his jail term from the date of arrest on January 9, adding that he would be jailed for another five months if he failed to pay the fine.
During the hearing, deputy public prosecutor Wan Nur Iman Wan Ahmad Afzal had requested that the court hand down a deterrent punishment, while Azman requested leniency as this was Daniel’s first offence and that he had repented.
Azman had also told the court yesterday that the accused had committed the crime as he needed money to purchase medicine for his diabetic grandfather.
However, Sg Buloh district police chief Shafa’aton Abu Bakar was quoted by Sinar Harian as saying that the teenager had attempted to steal the money to buy drugs and for online gambling.
Prior to his sentencing, a video of Daniel being bathed like a corpse by mosque authorities had gone viral online, triggering public outcry against those who took matters into their own hands.
Many netizens have since offered to help Daniel pay his RM4,000 fine.
Institute of Strategic and International Studies senior analyst Tashny Sukumaran had also started a crowdfunding campaign through Twitter last night to collect the amount.
According to her, a total of RM10,500 was donated as of this morning, and she has since stopped taking any more donations.
Since the fine has already been paid in full, Tashny said the donated amount will be given to Daniel and his grandfather, with whom he is currently living.
Amanah Youth chief Hasbie Muda had also posted on Facebook this morning saying the wing has offered to pay the RM4,000 fine and purchase medications for his grandfather.
With the amount already settled, Hasbie said the cash will instead be donated to Daniel’s family or used for his rehabilitation, if the claim of drug abuse is true. – The Vibes, January 14, 2022
