TAWAU: A 47-year-old cleaner was jailed eight years and ordered to be given four strokes of the cane for raping an underage girl until she gave birth in November last year.
Muhammad Ali, who is an Indonesian passport holder, pleaded guilty before Sessions Court Judge Rosli Ahmad, to the charge against him on Tuesday.
Muhammad had raped the 13-year-old victim at an oil palm plantation worker’s house in Semporna, at 4pm on Apr 2, 2022.
The offence under Section 376 of the Penal Code provides for a jail term of up to 20 years and whipping, if convicted.
SPONSORED CONTENT Firefly’s inaugural flight to Sandakan SANDAKAN: Firefly, the low-cost carrier subsidiary of Malaysia Airlines; made its inaugural flight from Kota Kinabalu to Sandakan on Tuesday. Read more After serving the jail sentence, Muhammad was ordered referred to the Immigration Department for deportation.
According to facts of the case, Muhammad had raped the victim when she was sleeping alone in his house at the time.
Investigation revealed the victim had complained of stomach pain before seeking treatment at Tawau Hospital and the medical officer confirmed that she was 38 weeks pregnant and gave birth to a baby boy before revealing that she was raped by Muhammad.
Muhammad was arrested on Nov 21, 2022 following a police report.
Earlier, Deputy Public Prosecutor Mohd Suhaimi Suriana asked for a heavy sentence to be imposed on Muhammad taking into account public interest as well as the trauma suffered by the victim after being raped.
He said the victim who is still in school should live a normal life like other girls, but had to shoulder the responsibility of being a mother at a very young age.
Mohd Suhaimi stated that the chemist’s report had confirmed that Muhammad was the biological father of the baby.
“The prosecution takes into account the fact that Muhammad in this case is a foreigner who entered this country and should be sentenced to severe punishment in addition to having to be deported to his country of origin,” said Mohd Suhaimi.
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