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Preacher Ebit Lew To Face Trial For Allegedly Sending Lewd Pics & Texts To A Woman

Ustaz Ebit Lew faces up to five years in prison, a fine, or both if convicted.

Cover image via Juwan Riduan/New Straits Times

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Ebit Irawan Ibrahim Lew, a celebrity preacher more popularly known as Ustaz Ebit Lew, will face trial on 11 charges of sexual harassment

The trial will be held from 27 to 30 September at the Tenom magistrate's court in Sabah, according to a statement from Bukit Aman Corporate Communications head ACP A Skandaguru.

The charges against the 37-year-old preacher were filed under Section 509 of the Penal Code.

He faces up to five years in prison, a fine, or both if convicted.

According to Bukit Aman CID director Datuk Seri Abdul Jalil Hassan, Ebit allegedly sent lewd texts and photos through WhatsApp to a Malay woman between March and July last year.

In February, the preacher pleaded not guilty to all of the charges

At the time, magistrate Nur Asyraf Zolhani at the Circuit Court in the Tenom district office allowed Ebit to be released after he posted bail of RM11,000 — RM1,000 per charge — and two sureties.

After he was released on bail, Ebit claimed that people were trying to tarnish his image and credibility as a charity worker and that the charges were a "test from God".

He said that the accusations are baseless and were created with an ulterior motive to ruin his credibility.

If you or someone you know may be at risk or has experienced sexual abuse or assault, please reach out to these Malaysian organisations:

1. WOMEN'S AID ORGANISATION (WAO)
Operating hours: 24-hour
Contact: +603-30008858
SMS/WhatsApp: +6018-9888058
Website | Facebook | Twitter

2. ALL WOMEN'S ACTION SOCIETY (AWAM)
Operating hours: Monday to Friday (9.30am - 5.30pm)
Contact: +603-78770224
WhatsApp/Telegram: +6016-2284221 | +6016-2374221
Email: [email protected]
Website | Facebook | Twitter

3. WOMEN'S CENTRE FOR CHANGE PENANG (WCC PENANG)
Operating hours: Monday to Friday (9am - 5pm)
Contact: +604-2280342 | +604-3988340
WhatsApp: +6011-31084001 | +6016-4180342
Email: [email protected]
Website | Facebook | Twitter

4. SARAWAK WOMEN FOR WOMEN SOCIETY (SWWS)
Operating hours: Monday (7pm - 9pm),Tuesday to Thursday (9.30am - 11.30am), Saturday (2pm - 4pm)
Contact: +6082-368853
SMS/WhatsApp: +6016-5822660 | +6013-8044285
Email: [email protected]
Website | Facebook | Twitter

5. SABAH WOMEN'S ACTION-RESOURCE GROUP (SAWO)
Operating hours: Monday to Friday (9am - 5pm)
Contact: +6088-280200 | +6011-27908020
Email: [email protected]
Website | Facebook | Twitter

6. PROTECT AND SAVE THE CHILDREN (PS THE CHILDREN)
Operating hours: Monday to Friday (3pm - 12am)
WhatsApp: +6016-7213065
Email: [email protected]
Website | Facebook | Twitter

7. INTERNET WATCH FOUNDATION (IWF)
Anonymously and confidentially report child sexual abuse content and non-photographic child sexual abuse images with IWF's Reporting Portal.

Read more about the case here:

In September last year, police opened an investigation paper after obscene videos and texts allegedly linked to the preacher went viral:

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