Fadley Faisal

A schoolteacher, who faces four charges of molesting three male students under the age of 12, was released by the Magistrate’s Court yesterday on a court bail of BND10,000, or two local sureties.

The 41-year-old defendant, whose name has been withheld, is accused of kissing and fondling the students on different occasions at a primary school in the Belait District.

Prior to yesterday, he had been under remand from November 14, pending further police investigation.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Nurul Fitri binti Kiprawi objected to the defendant’s release. However, the court ruled in favour of defence counsel Rozaiman bin Abdul Rahman’s application to release the defendant on bail, subject to strict conditions, including an order not to approach the victims and the school. The defendant was also ordered not to interfere with the prosecution witnesses.

Magistrate Kamaliah Fadhilah binti Haji Ibrahim adjourned the case to December 3.