Magistrate Siti Zubaidah Mahat meted out the sentences on Alyaa Zahwa Salim, 18, Putri Nurul Suhaila Abdullah, 18, Asran Ghazalie, 23, and Adha Abdullah, 20, after they made their plea at the Klang magistrates’ court.

Siti ordered their sentence to commence from the date of their arrests, Berita Harian reported.

The four were jointly charged with kidnapping the child from her legal guardian at Lorong Batu Nilam 1B, Bandar Bukit Tinggi, Klang, around 3pm on Oct 8.

According to the facts of the case, they had taken the victim to a house in Segambut, Kuala Lumpur, on Oct 8. They took her back home four days later after she was reported missing.

The charge was framed under Sections 34 and 363 of the Penal Code, which carries a maximum sentence of seven years’ imprisonment and a fine.

Lawyer Saifullah Azmi had sought a good behaviour bond sentence, saying the cause of the incident was a misunderstanding between one of the accused and the victim’s brother.

“Their intention was to meet the victim’s brother. They admitted taking the girl to the house while waiting to meet him.

“They are remorseful and I believe that they are just still immature,” he said.

He also said Alyaa and Putri only earned RM2,000 a month each as masseuses while Adha worked at an e-cigarette store with an income of RM1,700. Asran was unemployed.

Deputy public prosecutor Nuruljannah Aimi however argued that the case had drawn public attention after the incident went viral. She also said kidnapping was a serious crime and the victim was just a child.