A 23-year-old man threatened his victim with a Swiss Army knife at the lift of his residence in order to get her follow him to his home.

Subsequently, he threatened the victim with a chopper in his bedroom when he wanted her to have sex with him.

Muhammad Shahrul Nizam bin Zulkifli was sentenced to three years and 20 weeks in jail, along with six strokes of the cane.

He pleaded guilty to two counts of criminal intimidation, one count of outrage of modesty and another count of threatening to distribute the victim's intimate images.

The victim's name and relationship to Shahrul cannot be named due to a gag order protecting her identity.

Victim thought Shahrul wanted to have a meal with her

According to court documents, the victim met Shahrul on May 4, 2023, at about 10:30pm outside her school.

At that time, the victim agreed to follow Shahrul into a private-hire vehicle (PHV) as she was under the impression that Shahrul wanted to have a meal with her.

However, when she found out during the ride that the PHV was going to Shahrul's residence, she was reluctant to follow him.

Shahrul then told the victim that he had recorded nude photos of her and that he would send these photos to her father if she did not comply.

As she was worried that Shahrul would carry out his threat, the victim agreed to follow him home.

Threatened her with a Swiss Army knife at the lift

Upon reaching his residence and while they were taking the lift up to his home, Shahrul took out a Swiss Army knife and extended its blade.

When they exited the lift, Shahrul pointed the knife at the victim and told her to follow him.

As she was frightened that the accused would hurt her, she followed him to his residence.

When they reached his home, they greeted his grandmother and went to his bedroom, whereupon Shahrul took away her handphone so that she would not be able to call for help.

Took a chopper to threaten her when she ignored him

The accused then tried to talk to the victim but she kept quiet and ignored him.

This angered Shahrul who took up a chopper that was inside his bedroom and pointed it at the victim.

He told her to sit on his bed and she complied out of fear. Shahrul then asked the victim for sex but she refused.

He then pushed her down on the bed, lifted her shirt and kissed her.

When the victim cried, he stopped and told her to go home.

Threatened with chopper

However, just as she was about to leave, Shahrul changed his mind, placed the chopper next to him and told the victim he wanted her to perform a sex act on him. The victim refused, even after he grabbed her head.

When he asked for another sex act and was refused again by the victim, he pushed her to the floor and grabbed the chopper. Shahrul then made a motion as if to swing the chopper at the victim.

She shouted at him to stop and he did so as he was afraid that his grandmother would be alerted if there was any further commotion. He returned her phone and allowed her to leave.

Shahrul surrendered himself on May 7, 2023, for unrelated drug offences among others at the Drug Rehabilitation Centre.

Prosecution: Shahrul had brought the victim to tears

Shahrul was formally charged on Jul. 17, 2024. On the same date, the prosecution indicated that they were ready for his plea and he also indicated that he was willing to plead guilty.

In their sentencing submissions, the prosecution said his assault on the victim had involved three separate actions and had brought her to tears.

In addition, the victim was confined with the accused in his room and was unable to seek help after he had taken away her phone.

During his mitigation pleas, Shahrul said he had not engaged a lawyer to show his remorse, The Straits Times reported.

He also said he hopes to turn over a new leaf and make up for his wrong deeds.

For the charge of criminal intimidation, Shahrul could have been jailed for up to two years.

For outrage of modesty, he could have been jailed between two to 10 years and caned.

As for threatening to distribute intimate images, Shahrul could have been jailed for up to five years, caned and fined.

Top photo by M.T. ElGassier via Unsplash