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KOTA KINABALU – The high court here yesterday upheld the 23 years’ jail and whipping sentence of a former athletic coach for two convictions of raping a minor five years ago.
Justice Datuk Christopher Chin Soo Yin dismissed an appeal by Mohammad Hassan Rivera, 48, who wanted to have his sentence and conviction varied.
The appellant, who was previously granted a stay of execution of the sentence pending the appeal, will immediately serve his jail term from yesterday.
On October 2, 2020, the sessions court here found the appellant guilty of the two charges framed under Section 376(1) of the Penal Code.
The indictment provides for a jail term of up to 20 years and whipping, upon conviction.
On the first charge, the lower court sentenced the appellant to 10 years’ jail and ordered him to be given one stroke of the cane for raping the 15-year- and 11-month-old victim at a house in Papar on March 18, 2018.
The appellant, represented by counsel Ram Singh and Chen Wen Jye for this appeal, received another 13 years’ imprisonment and one whipping for the second count of raping the same victim at a room of a sports complex here on March 24, 2018.
The lower court had ordered for both the appellant’s jail terms to run consecutively from the date of his conviction.
During the trial, the prosecution had called 10 witnesses to testify while the appellant produced eight witnesses, including himself. – Borneo Post Online, March 4, 2023
