School bus driver charged again for offensive TikTok comment

BATU PAHAT: A school bus driver who went viral for referring to a young girl he was transporting as his 'crush' was charged again today, this time at the Sessions Court here, for allegedly posting an offensive comment in a TikTok video uploaded last week.

The 24-year-old man pleaded not guilty after the charge was read before Judge Osman Affendi Mohd Shalleh.

According to the charge, he is accused of knowingly making and initiating the transmission of an offensive comment in a video showing a nine-year-old girl with the caption "Harini crush busy buat homework" (today my crush is busy doing homework) followed by a 'love' emoji while observing the child, on Sept 5 at Taman Budiman, Parit Raja here.

The charge was framed under Section 233(1)(a) of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, punishable under Section 233(3) of the same Act, which carries a fine not exceeding RM50,000 or imprisonment of up to one year, or both, and can be fined an additional RM1,000 for each day the offence continues after conviction.

Deputy public prosecutor Nurizzati Rozman appeared for the prosecution while the accused was represented by lawyer Umar Zulkarnain.

Judge Osman Affendi allowed bail at RM10,000 with one surety, with additional conditions that the accused must report himself to the nearest police station once a month and to refrain from disturbing the victim and prosecution witnesses.

The court also allowed the prosecution's application to transfer the case to the Muar Sessions Court as he is also facing charges there and set Oct 10 for the submission of documents and the next mention of the case.

On Tuesday, the accused was charged at the Muar Sessions Court with two counts of physical and non-physical sexual assault against children under Sections 14(a) and 15(a)(iii) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017.

On Sept 5, a social media user shared a screenshot of a school bus driver's TikTok post, where he referred to a female student as his 'crush' and 'favourite'.

In response, Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri instructed officials from the Child Development Department to file a police report against the bus driver.

The man was subsequently arrested on Sept 6.

-- BERNAMA

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