Kota Kinabalu: A 43-year-old unemployed man was sentenced to a total of 10 years’ imprisonment and three strokes of the cane for sexually assaulting his teenage niece.
Sessions Court Judge Hurman Hussain handed down the sentence after the man pleaded guilty to squeezing the 17-year-old girl's breasts at a house in Penampang at 12.13pm on March 1.
The accused received seven years and two strokes under Section 14(a) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act (SOACA) 2017, plus an additional three years and one stroke under Section 16 of the same Act due to his relationship with the victim.
The court heard that the man had cornered the victim in a room, locked the door, and hugged her from behind while demanding sex before she managed to struggle free and shout for help.
Judge Hurman ordered the jail terms to run consecutively from the date of arrest and directed the man to undergo rehabilitative counselling while serving his sentence.
