SHAH ALAM, Jan 17 — Mohamad Safiq Rosli, 37, the first person to be charged with stalking in Malaysia has dodged prison time, but was ordered to be sent to Hospital Bahagia Ulu Kinta, Tanjung Rambutan for treatment where he will be detained at His Majesty’s pleasure.

After a day-long trial that saw three witnesses take the stand, the court found that Safiq was of unsound mind at the time the offence was committed under Section 507A of the Penal Code.

"Section 84 of the Penal Code has been successfully invoked by the defence.

"So, in line with Section 347 of the Criminal Procedure Code, the accused is discharged and acquitted,” said Magistrate Sasha Diana Sabtu here today after a one-day trial.

Lawyer Firthril Hakim Ab Jalil entered the defence of insanity on behalf of the accused under Section 87 of the Penal Code after the court found that a prima facie case was established.

Hospital Bahagia’s consultant forensic psychiatrist Dr Ian Lloyd Anthony was the defence’s one and only witness. He was called to testify about the accused’s schizophrenia diagnosis.

"During the alleged acts on July 15, 17 and 21, 2023, he was in an unsound mental state and was not aware of the nature and consequences of the act and was unable to know that those acts were unlawful.

"His schizophrenia has caused cognitive impairment to such an extent as to render him incapable of knowing or understanding the nature of this case — stalking,” he told the court.

Dr Anthony also said that the accused’s medical condition caused him to believe that he was in a romantic relationship with the victim, when his affection was clearly one-sided.

He also developed other delusions, the doctor added.

Safiq, who also worked as a graphic designer, was first charged with stalking on August 10 last year.

He initially pleaded not guilty to sending three messages to Acacia Mardiana Daud, 31, on X (formerly Twitter) where he expressed his love for her, but later changed his plea to guilty on December 15.

However, on the day of sentencing (December 19), his guilty plea was rejected by Magistrate Sasha Diana Sabtu, and he was ordered to face a full trial.

The magistrate took note of his medical report from the psychiatric evaluation at Hospital Bahagia, Tanjung Rambutan, Perak, which she had previously ordered Safiq to undergo when he was first charged in August, showed that he may have been of unsound mind at the time the offence was committed.

Before his charging, Safiq was supposed to appear in a court in the United Kingdom to be charged there, however he breached his bail and fled back to Malaysia.

In her victim impact statement, Acacia told the court that she had been stalked by the man since she was 23 years old. She claimed that he knew her whereabouts and where she lived.

Besides being subjected to physical stalking, Acacia kept receiving Safiq’s countless love messages as well as lewd messages as he would find ways to contact her after she had blocked him.

She told the court she was frightened of him and that this case has severely affected her mental health and her quality of life.

Acacia’s impact statement was read by her lawyer Jason Wee who was also holding a watching brief for her.

Section 507A of the Penal Code criminalises stalking, whether in person or online and came into force on May 31.

The new anti-stalking law can be applied after there is more than one incident of following or tracking physically or online, communicating or attempting to communicate, loitering around the place of business or home of a person, giving or sending anything through any medium to a person.

However, it must be coupled with the intention of causing or knowing to cause distress, fear, or alarm to the person’s safety.

Those convicted under Section 507A can be sentenced to jail for a maximum of three years, a fine, or both.

Section 84 of the Penal Code states that if the accused was of unsound mind during the time the act was committed, he shall be acquitted.

Section 347 states that the court will grant an acquittal if it is satisfied that the accused was unable to know the nature of the act and that it was wrong or unlawful due to unsound mind at the time it was committed.

Section 348 provides that an accused that has been acquitted on the grounds of mental disorder will be admitted to a hospital for safe custody.

*Editor's note: An earlier version wrongly mentioned Section 378 of the Penal Code instead of Section 348, and has since been corrected.