KUALA LUMPUR — The corn seller whose racially insensitive signboard against Indians sparked outcry was charged today and fined RM400.
Sepang deputy police chief Superintendent Shan Gopal Krishnan said the Sepang magistrate’s court imposed the fine after the man pleaded guilty to a charge under the Penal Code of making a statement with intent to cause, or is likely to cause, fear or alarm to the public.
The 64-year-old man also faced an alternative charge of being a public nuisance under the Penal Code, Shan Gopal said in a statement reported by New Straits Times.
Shan Gopal in his statement said police had earlier investigated the case under the Sedition Act and the Communications and Multimedia Act as well, before referring investigation papers to the Selangor deputy public prosecutor.
The trader’s 52-year-old Indonesian wife was also charged under the Immigration Act 1959/63 for staying in Malaysia without a valid pass. She was sentenced to three months in jail.
Police arrested the corn seller and his wife on Monday in Sepang, where the man had his roadside stall.
His signboard which stated he would not sell to Indians, using a derogatory word to describe the community, went viral after it was recorded in a clip posted on TikTok, drawing outcry from social media users and several politicians and Indian community representatives.
The man later apologised in a session facilitated by the local area Kawasan Rukun Tetangga (neighbourhood watch leaders) in the presence of police and National Unity and Integration Department officers. – February 21, 2025