TENOM, Jan 9 — A witness in the trial of preacher Ebit Irawan Ibrahim Lew, also known as Ebit Lew, told the Magistrates’ Court here today that attempts to retrieve deleted conversation messages from a woman’s WhatsApp application on a mobile phone were unsuccessful.

Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) senior audio-video analyst Latifah Abdul Aziz, 43, said her analysis of the complainant’s mobile phone in this case found that the WhatsApp application is a platform that does not store any data.

As such, any conversation messages deleted in the WhatsApp application cannot be recovered,” she said when cross-examined by deputy public prosecutor Nor Azizah Mohamad today.

The seventh prosecution witness said she does not have full knowledge of whether there are conversation messages in the WhatsApp application of the mobile phone.

Nor Azizah: Can you explain why you agree with the question posed by (lawyer) Ram Singh suggesting that there might be messages that have possibly been deleted.

Latifah: Please refer to the screenshot dated August 7, 2021, showing the conversation content from the WhatsApp application. I acknowledge the possibility of deleted messages, but I cannot verify.

The witness explained that based on the screenshot, "deleted messages” were visible in the conversation content, suggesting a potential deletion of messages, but it cannot be fully confirmed.

Lew, 38, faces 11 charges, including outraging the modesty of a woman in her 40s by sending obscene words and images to the victim’s phone number via the WhatsApp application between March and June 2021.

The charges under Section 509 of the Penal Code provide a prison sentence of up to five years or a fine or both if convicted.

The trial before Magistrate Nur Asyraf Zolhani continues tomorrow. — Bernama