KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 22 — A 28-year-old Myanmar national pleaded guilty in the Butterworth magistrate’s court today to charges of assault and entering the country without valid documents.

According to Berita Harian, he admitted to grievously injuring a 52-year-old local man by gouging out the latter’s eye during a fight on November 16 near the Flat Rethina, Jalan Ara Kuda, Tasek Gelugor, causing permanent blindness.

The charge under Section 325 of the Penal Code carries a maximum penalty of seven years in prison and a fine.

He also pleaded guilty to entering Malaysia without proper documentation, in violation of Section 6(1)(c) of the Immigration Act, after he was accused of committing the offence at the same place and time as the first.

The second charge could result in a fine of up to RM10,000, imprisonment of up to five years, or both, along with up to six strokes of the cane.

Deputy public prosecutor Airina Syazreen Zainurin asked for bail to be denied due to the defendant was undocumented and unrepresented today.

The court then ordered that he be remanded into custody, and scheduled December 13 for the next hearing to secure a Myanmar interpreter.