Private hospital specialist jailed seven years, six canings for sexual abuse of 11-year-old patient

A SPECIALIST doctor from a private hospital has been sentenced to seven years' imprisonment and seven strokes of the cane after the Sessions Court in Kuala Terengganu found him guilty of sexually assaulting an 11-year-old boy during medical treatment sessions between 2022 and 2023.

Judge Mohd Zul Zakiqudin Zulkifli handed down the sentence after ruling that the defence had failed to raise reasonable doubt against the prosecution's case at the end of the defence stage.

The accused, Dr Mohd Syafwan Mohd Soffian, 42, was convicted on seven charges of committing physical sexual assault against the child at a consultation room, which was his clinic at a private hospital in Kuala Terengganu.

Six of the charges involved incidents alleged to have occurred between 25 September 2022 and 10 April 2023.

The seventh charge related to an incident that allegedly took place at the same location at about 8pm on 9 October 2022.

The offences were prosecuted under Sections 14(a) and 14(d) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017, which provide for imprisonment of up to 20 years and caning upon conviction.

For the six charges under Section 14(a) of the Act, the court sentenced the accused to five years' imprisonment and one stroke of the cane for each offence, together with two years of police supervision after completing the sentence.

For the remaining charge under Section 14(d), the court imposed seven years' imprisonment, one stroke of the cane and a further two-year police supervision order.

The court ordered all prison terms to run concurrently from the date of sentencing, meaning the accused will serve a total sentence of seven years' imprisonment and seven strokes of the cane.

The prosecution was led by Deputy Public Prosecutors Ahmad Hafizuddin Manjur Ahmad and Nur Azhani Azman.

The accused was represented by lawyers Ahmad Fairuz Jusoh, Ahmad Kamal Abu Bakar and Arik Zakri Abdul Kadir. - July 19, 2026