S Puvana, 33, though, was able to identify four of the accused in the magistrate’s court today.
The housewife told lawyer Azlan Abd Roni that between 2am and 5am on Nov 26, 2018 she was at home doing household chores, including cooking.
The ninth witness said this when cross-examined by Azlan if she knew all the accused who were charged with committing the offence at that time.
Azlan: I put it to you that you never met the accused in the wee hours of Nov 26 as you were at home.
Puvana: Yes.
The witness, who is in an advanced stage of pregnancy, said she lodged a police report about the rioting incident but she did not have a copy of the report.
To a question by another lawyer Ahmad Hafiz A Bakar, Puvana said the contents of her witness statement which she read earlier in court were true.
In her witness statement, Puvana had said she came to the temple with family members at about 7.30pm on Nov 26 to conduct prayers for her husband and a cousin, N Uvaraj. She said the temple was peaceful and there were about 20 devotees in the premises.
Puvana said that at around 12.30am on Nov 27, she went home with her mother to change. They came back an hour later.
“There was chaos in the temple and I saw about 200 Malay men armed with parang and sticks. Some were wearing masks and the gate to the temple had been broken,” Puvana said, adding that she went to look for her husband.
Puvana said she heard some of the intruders screaming and asking the devotees to leave the temple.
“Uvaraj and I were heading back to my car parked at the temple road shoulder. One Malay youth pushed Uvaraj and placed a parang to his neck,” she said, adding that the man did not inflict any injury.
Puvana said some youths then threw stones and her cousin, R Gunavathy, was injured.
She said the police then arrived at the scene after she made several calls.
Puvana said she did not witness firemen being attacked, including one who was said to be injured, or fire engines being burnt.
The 17 accused are Muhammad Riduan Sekh Ruslan, Irwan Noordin, Mohamad Khairi Abdul Rashid, Rozaihan Zakaria, Muhammad Qayyum Mohd Faisal, Mohd Ashraf Mohd Faizal, Absal Eastrie Abdullah, Mohamed Jalil Talib, Muhammad Khairol Anuar Zabidi,Mohd Zamri Md Said, Shukri Razali, Nor Azmi Abdul Ghani, Mohammad Shahril Danniel Sajeel, Muhammad Saifullah Abdullah, Muhammad Hasneezam Shah Samsudin, Akmal Izzat Aziz and Mohd Norul Ismawi Islahuddin,
Another accused Afizal Sabtu, who was charged with the rest, has since died.
They are charged with rioting and in possession of dangerous weapons in the wee hours of Nov 26. The offence under Section 148 of the Penal Code carries a maximum jail term of five years or a fine or both, upon conviction.
Puvana, however, later identified Rohaizan, Zambri, Shahril and Saifullah as being among the youths who she said were at the temple that morning (Nov 27).
“I vividly remember Saifullah as he spoke to me in Tamil that they came to solve a problem,” she said when further examined by deputy public prosecutor Natasha Azmi.
Hearing before magistrate Muhammad Iskandar Zainol was adjourned to Oct 14.