PUTRAJAYA (Nov 4): A three-member Court of Appeal bench on Wednesday has acquitted celebrity preacher Dai Syed of rape in a majority decision. 

COA judge Datuk Azman Abdullah, who chaired the bench, was in the majority along with Datuk Mohd Radzi Abdul Hamid, while Datuk Meor Hashimi Abdul Hamid is the sole judge who upheld the preacher’s conviction. 

Following the decision, which is the final appeal for Dai Syed in a case that originated at the Sessions Court, the COA bench also dismissed the cross-appeal by the prosecution to enhance his sentence of 10 years’ jail and three strokes of the rotan. 

Dai Syed, whose real name is Syed Shah Iqmal Syed Mohd Shaiful, was convicted by the Shah Alam Session Court in April 2023, and the conviction and sentence was upheld by the High Court on Aug 30, 2024. He had already served 21 days in prison before getting a stay of the conviction and sentence at the COA. 

Syed Shah claimed trial to the rape of a 23-year-old woman in a condominium room at I-City, Section 7, Shah Alam, at 1:35am on Sept 11, 2019. 

The charge was brought under Section 376(1) of the Penal Code where if found guilty, he faced a maximum imprisonment of 20 years jail and whipping.

More to come