A three-member bench chaired by Justice Hanipah Farikullah said the conviction of Nor Azlam Rahman by the trial court in 2019 was safe.

“There is no merit in the appeal that warrants appellate intervention. The trial court and the High Court did not err in their findings.

“The appellant also failed to create a doubt in the prosecution’s case,” she said.

Hanipah, who sat with Justices Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim and Zaini Mazlan, also said the punishment imposed on Azlam, now 43, of the jail term and one stroke of the rotan was not manifestly excessive.

A warrant of committal was issued for Azlam to begin his jail term and to be whipped once as ordered by the sessions court after he was found guilty.

He had been released on bail of RM50,000 pending the outcome of the appeal.

Azlam had sexually assaulted the girl at a Kota Bharu primary school science laboratory on Aug 4, 2018.

He was found to have committed physical assault for a sexual purpose by touching the girl’s breasts, an offence under Section 14(a) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017.

The facts of the case revealed Azlam had also touched her head and legs.

His lawyer, Azrul Hashimi Mohammad, submitted that the charge as framed ran afoul of the Act as it did not specify which part of the victim’s body the accused had touched.

Deputy public prosecutor Dhiya Syazwani Akhir submitted that the girl was a competent witness, and that her evidence had been corroborated by another child witness, who was also a victim of Azlam.

“The child saw the appellant sitting close to the victim and treating her,” she said.