Judge Kunasundary Marimuthu acquitted Na Li Jing, 34, at the close of the defence case, finding that reasonable doubt had been raised against the prosecution’s case.

In her ruling, Kunasundary found that Na had only begun renting the condominium in 2024, not in 2022 as stated in the charge.

The evidence was supported by an independent witness whom the court found to be truthful, firm and consistent in his testimony.

“How could the alleged sexual assault have taken place? Are the premises stated in the charge correctly attributed to the accused? In this case, the report of sexual assault was lodged several years later, and the victim was a young child.

“Surely, the investigating officer bears a greater responsibility to ensure that all aspects of the case are properly and thoroughly investigated, including verifying the ownership or occupancy of the premises where the alleged offence occurred.

“It has been reiterated time and again that the duty of an IO is to gather all evidence, both for and against the suspect, to ensure a fair trial and the proper administration of justice.

“However, in this case, it appeared that the IO had merely recorded witness statements before charging the accused,” Bernama reported her as saying.

Na was charged under Section 14(a) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017 with sexually assaulting the boy at a condominium in Petaling district, Selangor, between Oct 7 and 8, 2022.

He was charged on June 11, 2025, and ordered to enter his defence on Feb 20 this year.

Deputy public prosecutor Norhana Sahat led the prosecution, while lawyer Amirul Mukminin represented Na.