Kota Kinabalu: The High Court on Thursday discharged and acquitted a 44-year-old man of physically sexually harassing his stepdaughter, overturning his earlier 12-year jail sentence and two strokes of the cane.
Judicial Commissioner Dayang Ellyn Narisa Abang Ahmad set aside the conviction and sentences after allowing the man's appeal against the Sessions Court decision.
The court held, among others, that the complainant was unreliable, that the lower court had wrongly applied Section 2D of the Evidence of Child Witness Act 2007 (Act 676), and that material inconsistencies existed in the prosecution’s evidence.
The appellant had been convicted on Jan 3, 2023, of committing the offence against the then 11-year-old girl at 1am on Dec 29, 2022, at a house in Petagas.
Counsel Edward Paul represented the appellant, while Deputy Public Prosecutor Samira Khalili appeared for the respondent.
