27-6-2024 (KUALA LUMPUR) The High Court in Kuala Lumpur today ordered a former police officer, Hazrul Hizham Ghazali, 34, to pay RM820,000 in damages to two Mongolian women over non-consensual intercourse that occurred in two separate hotel rooms during the implementation of the movement control order (MCO) four years ago.
Justice John Lee @ Johan Lee, in his judgment, stated that the two Mongolian women, as the plaintiffs, had successfully proven their case on the balance of probabilities against the defendant, Hazrul Hizham Ghazali.
“After considering the undisputed and unchallenged testimony of the witnesses and the submissions, I have found that the plaintiffs have proven that the defendant (Hazrul) had non-consensual intercourse with both plaintiffs, at least six times with one of the women and twice with the other woman,” said Lee.
The court awarded the first Mongolian woman a total of RM460,000 in damages, comprising RM260,000 for general damages for battery (inclusive of non-consensual sexual intercourse), sexual harassment, and false imprisonment, as well as RM200,000 for aggravated and exemplary damages.
As for the second woman, Lee awarded a total of RM360,000 in damages, including RM160,000 for general damages for battery (inclusive of non-consensual sexual intercourse) and false imprisonment, along with RM200,000 for aggravated and exemplary damages.
The court also ordered RM20,000 in costs to be paid to each plaintiff.
Justice Lee noted that the defendant had been unrepresented since his former solicitor discharged himself, and he had been absent at the trial despite being duly informed by his former solicitor.
“As per the strict instructions issued by the court, the trial proceeded accordingly, and at the end of the trial, the plaintiffs filed their written submissions to the court,” he said.
In 2020, Hazrul was charged with two counts of trafficking the two Mongolian women for sexual exploitation and nine counts of raping and intending to outrage their modesty. However, he was freed of all charges at the end of the defence case last year.
According to the facts of the case, as read out by Lee in court, the two Mongolian women were stopped by Hazrul at a roadblock in Petaling Jaya during the MCO on April 10, 2020. They were instructed to step out of the car and were brought to a nearby police tent before being taken to a hotel in Petaling Jaya.
The defendant then took them to separate bedrooms at the hotel and had non-consensual intercourse with them between April 10 and April 11, 2020.
