KUCHING (Oct 27): A habitual offender was sentenced by the Magistrates' Court here today to two months' jail for the theft of three brass Hindu deity statues and other brass worship items from a temple last month.
Thayalan Arumugam @ Sivapragasam, 56, pleaded guilty before Magistrate Nursyaheeqa Nazwa Radzali to a charge under Section 380 of the Penal Code, which provides for up to 10 years' imprisonment and a fine, upon conviction.
He committed the offence at the Sri Muniswaran Temple along Jalan Hospital here at about 8.30am on Sept 9, 2025.
According to the facts of the case, a temple representative lodged a police report after discovering that several brass prayer items were missing.
Acting on information, police arrested Thayalan at an unnumbered house on Jalan Kampung Gita Laut here at about 1.45pm on Sept 18.
He was subsequently tested positive for amphetamine and methamphetamine.
Investigations revealed that Thayalan had tried to sell the stolen items to a scrap metal premises on Jalan Setia Raja on Sept 13.
Closed-circuit television footage from the premises confirmed that he had been there, while a witness statement further verified that the stolen brass items were in a bag carried by the accused.
It was also discovered that Thayalan had on Sept 11 sent photos of the brass items to a potential buyer via WhatsApp. The items in the photos were identified and confirmed to be the same ones reported missing from the temple.
The case facts also stated that the accused has five prior criminal records, including three for drugs, and was also a detainee under the Prevention of Crime Act 1959 from 2017 to 2019.
Prosecuting the case was deputy public prosecutor Chuah Kai Sheng, while Thayalan was unrepresented.