EIGHT individuals, including a woman known as ‘Bella’, were charged in the Johor Bahru Magistrate's Court on four charges of threatening to kill, extorting, confining and causing injury to a young man, last Friday.
The accused, Nuredrianna Balqqisyh Anabella Norazman, 22, pleaded guilty to three charges while her seven male friends pleaded guilty to four charges after the charge sheet was presented before Magistrate Atifah Hazimah Wahab.
They are Muhammad Aqmal Hafifi Mustafa Kamal, 25, Ahmad Rushdi Jumadi, 23, Muhammad Nur Shafiq Abdullah, 25, and Muhammad Haikal Zulkarnain, 19.
Also charged are Mohamad Amierul Hakim Shamsuri, 23, Mohamad Danish Hakim Kamaruddin, 20, and Syamsul Hamiey Saiful Razali, 19.
For the first charge, the eight individuals concerned including Nuredrianna Balqqisyh were jointly charged with criminal intimidation against Muhammad Faris Syahmi Mohd Ridzwan, 22, threatening to cause his death with the intention of scaring him.
For the second charge, all the accused including Bella along with two others who are still at large intentionally committed extortion by inflicting fear on Muhammad Faris Syahmi, that they would not stop beating him till he agreed to pay RM3,000.
This prompted the victim to hand over RM650 and his Yamaha Y16 motorcycle keys to the accused, Mohammad Amierul Hakim.
According to the third charge, all the accused including Bella as well as two others who are still at large are charged with jointly confining the victim.
All seven male accused also pleaded guilty to a fourth charge of intentionally causing injury to Muhammad Faris Syahmi, with another still at large.
The act was allegedly committed at a house in Block J, Pangsapuri Daisi, Jalan Bunga Daisi, Plentong, Masai, between 10pm on April 18 and 19.
The charges were brought under Section 506, Section 384, Section 323 and Section 342 of the Penal Code which provides for a sentence of up to 10 years or a fine or both, if convicted.
Johor Prosecution Director, Abdul Ghafar Ab Latif prosecuted and was assisted by Deputy Public Prosecutors, Nik Noratini Nik Azman and Nur Fatihah Mohd Nizam.
Meanwhile, all the accused were represented by Norfarahin Mohd Yazid and T. Nadarajan from the National Legal Aid Foundation (YBGK).
Earlier, Abdul Ghafar pleaded for the court to grant bail of RM10,000 and a surety on each charge concerned.
"This means all seven male accused were asked to be granted bail amounting to RM40,000 each for the four charges, while the female accused Bella was asked to be granted bail amounting to RM30,000, for her three charges," he said.
However Norfarahin pleaded that the court take into account the guilty plea of all the accused and asked for a lower bail.
"Three accused including Bella were unemployed while the other four accused worked as refinery workers while another worked in a club for between RM1,200 to RM2,000 per month only.
"Bella lives with her mum and dad and she suffers from asthma," she said.
The magistrate then ordered all seven male accused bail at RM16,000 with a surety, while Bella was offered bail at RM14,000 with a surety.
The court set June 3 for the reading of the facts of the case and sentencing.
The suspects aged between 19 and 26, arrived at the court lobby at 8.40am in a police truck before being escorted to the court lock-up.
The suspects were arrested at around 2.30am on April 21 at an apartment in Plentong Baru, Masai.
Police said the suspects were arrested following the circulation of a 2-minute, 7-second viral video showing a group assaulting a man inside a residential unit.
Police also received a report from the victim, who claimed the incident occurred at about 9.30pm on April 18 at an apartment in Plentong Baru.
The victim had gone to the apartment after being invited by a woman he had met on social media and upon entering the unit, he was allegedly confined and assaulted by eight individuals.
“As a result of the incident, the victim sustained injuries to his lips and left ear, along with bruises on his body.
“Checks revealed that five of the suspects have prior criminal and drug-related records. Four of them also tested positive for methamphetamine,” said police. – April 25, 2025
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