Local chef charged with sodomy in Malaysia
He became a household name in 2007 when he emerged runner-up of local Malay culinary competition, Chef Selebriti.
Six years later, he made the news again when he was jailed and caned for sexually abusing a 13-year-old boy.
Yesterday, Muhammad Mustaqim Juri, 37, a beauty consultant and part-time chef, was back in the spotlight after he was charged with sodomy and criminal intimidation in a Malaysian court.
Muhammad Mustaqim is accused of having "carnal intercourse against the order of the nature" with a 22-year-old man at a carpark in Tampoi, Johor Baru, on Dec 10.
He then allegedly went to the man's home in Taman Cempaka and threatened his mother at about 2.30pm on the same day. He told the mother he would "get rid of her whole family".
Muhammad Mustaqim, a father of three, pleaded not guilty to both charges and was remanded as his mother could not afford the RM40,000 (S$13,000) bail, his lawyer Mohd Asram Zakaria told The New Paper.
His latest brush with the law shocked an acquaintance who had met Muhammad Mustaqim during the cooking show.
The woman, who declined to be named, told TNP: "I'm shocked. He's always appeared very humble. It's hard connecting all these together."
She described him as eloquent.
"He would always need help reading the lines from the scriptwriters. But from there, he would speak like a natural."
PAST CRIME
In 2013, Muhammad Mustaqim was sentenced to four years in jail and caning in a Singapore court for sexually abusing a 13-year-old boy in September 2011. The jail term was backdated to Sept 22 of that year, when he was first placed in remand.
He knew the boy's mother through his friend. When he learnt that the victim behaved in an effeminate manner, which led to teasing by neighbours, he offered to give the boy a "man-to-man" talk.
The boy followed him to his flat and was sexually abused and sodomised twice over a six-hour period.
Afterwards, Muhammad Mustaqim told the boy's mother he wanted to take the youngster out again and gave the boy $4.
He will be back in the Malaysian court on Jan 17.
If found guilty of committing unnatural sex act, Muhammad Mustaqim could be jailed between five and 20 years, with caning.
If convicted of criminal intimidation, he could be jailed up to two years with fine.
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