Teenager pleads guilty to setting cat on fire

A 13-year-old boy pleaded guilty in the Magistrate's Court here today to the charge of setting a cat on fire in the parking lot of Pangsapuri Taman Sri Kenari here last month.

Magistrate Nik Siti Norazlini Nik Mohamed Faiz fixed June 27 for sentencing of the teenager and submission of a moral report from the Social Welfare Department.

The court granted the youth bail of RM1,000 with one surety.

The youth together with two others, who are still at large, were charged with cruelty and causing pain to the cat by burning the animal on April 23 at 1.08 pm.

The charges were framed according to Section 29(1)(e) of the Animal Welfare Act 2015 read together with Section 34 of the Penal Code, which carries a fine of not less than RM20,000 and a maximum of RM100,000 or imprisonment for not more than three years or both.

Earlier, Deputy Public Prosecutor Nurul Afiqah Abdul Ghaffar offered bail at RM10,000 with one surety on the grounds that the case was a serious one involving cruelty to animals and public interest.

The teenager's mother, 30, appealed to the court for a lower bail as she only earned RM1,500 a month, and had to also support her 63-year-old mother.

Previously, a video recording of the incident showing three men at the flat's motorcycle parking area sprinkling what is believed to be fuel on a kitten estimated to be six weeks old before one of them lit a fire and set the cat on fire.

-- BERNAMA

Read the latest news here