Ker Peng Hoe, 71, and Hartati Agostoni, 43, entered their pleas before magistrate Arun Noval Dass in the Batu Pahat magistrates’ court today, Berita Harian reported.

Ker, a father of five, and Hartati, a single mother of two, were charged under Section 340 of the Penal Code, read together with Section 34 of the same code, with the wrongful confinement of two Indonesian women at a shophouse at Taman Flora Utama, Batu Pahat between 9am and 8.30pm on April 19.

They were also charged under Section 12(1)(f) of the Passports Act 1966 with unlawful possession of both women’s passports at the shophouse and the Batu Pahat police headquarters between 3.30pm and 4.30pm on April 20.

They were fined RM2,000 each under the first charge, and RM1,000 each under the second.

The prosecution was managed by deputy public prosecutor Firdaus Ruslan, while the duo were represented by lawyers Tan Song Yan and Tan Fong Ling.