Two foreign GRO jailed for soliciting customers for prostitution

PETALING JAYA: Two foreign women working as guest relations officers (GRO) were sentenced to five months’ jail each by the Magistrate’s Court here today for soliciting customers for prostitution.
Magistrate Atiqah Abd Karim@Husaini meted out the jail sentence on Kazakhstan woman Salima Salimova, 23, and a China national, Yang Jing, 29,  who pleaded guilty to the charge, which was read out in English and Mandarin, respectively, by a court interpreter.
They were ordered to serve the jail sentence from the date of their arrest, which was last June 8.
The two women pleaded guilty to a charge of soliciting customers for prostitution at a  hotel at Section 13 here at 10.55pm last June 8.
The charge, under Section 372B of the Penal Code, provides an imprisonment for up to a year, or fine, or both, upon conviction.
Earlier, the prosecution, represented by deputy public prosecutor from the Immigration Department, Akmal Baharuddin requested the court to impose a deterrent sentence on both the accused to prevent other foreigners from using their social visit pass to carry out immoral activities.
In mitigation, Salima, represented by lawyer Azlan Zulkifli, requested to be imposed fine as she wanted to return to her homeland and claimed that she was a victim of a syndicate.
Yang Jing, who was unrepresented, said she had a six-year-old child and an ailing father, both in China, to support.
According to the facts of the case, the Immigration authority raided the hotel after being tipped-off on prostitution activities at the premises.
Following investigation, it was found that the women could be booked through a website. — Bernama