By Dorcas Ting
KUCHING, March 25: A satay stall assistant will be spending Hari Raya Aidilfitri behind bars after he was sentenced to three months in prison by the Magistrate’s Court today for stealing 42.6kg of chicken meat from a well-known supermarket.
Muhammad Ridwan Purgianto, 23, from Belawai, pleaded guilty to the charge under Section 380 of the Penal Code, which was read before Magistrate Mason Jaro Lenya Barayan.
According to the charge, the theft took place at a supermarket in Muara Tebas, Jalan Bako, around 11.50am on March 24.
Under the law, those convicted of theft under Section 380 can face up to 10 years in prison and a possible fine.
Case facts revealed that on the day of the incident, a supermarket employee observed the accused behaving suspiciously in the meat weighing section. The worker, who recognised him as a regular customer, continued to monitor his actions.
The accused was seen placing the weighed chicken meat into a trolley before exiting through a side door without making any payment. The supermarket worker and a colleague followed him to the parking area, where they saw him storing the stolen meat in a vehicle belonging to his employer.
They then confronted and detained him, recovering the stolen chicken meat, which was valued at approximately RM628.87.
Investigations revealed that the accused had given the money—entrusted to him by his employer to purchase the chicken meat —to his wife to buy household necessities.
With his guilty plea, Muhammad Ridwan now faces the reality of celebrating Hari Raya from behind the walls of Puncak Borneo Prison. — DayakDaily
