Kota Kinabalu: A lorry driver was jailed a total of 22 years and ordered 12 lashes of the cane by the Sessions Court here on two counts of raping and sexually harassing his 13-year-old sister-in-law, two years ago.
The 37-year-old man pleaded guilty before Judge Elsie Primus on Tuesday to committing the offences at 9pm in September 2022 in a house in Kota Belud.
On the first count, the man was sentenced to 15 years’ jail from the date of his arrest and ordered to be caned 10 times for raping the minor.
He was handed another seven years’ jail and two strokes of the cane on the second count of committing physical sexual offence against the girl by fondling her breasts and kissing her mouth.
SPONSORED CONTENT Mengalum for world’s first net zero carbon island resort Taiwan’s Sinyi Group is on track to unveil the world’s first unique net zero carbon island resort on Mengalum Island. . Read more The court ordered the imprisonment sentence to run consecutively.
The man was also ordered to be placed under police supervision for three years on each of the charge after serving the sentence.
Earlier, Deputy Public Prosecutor Siti Hajar Mazlan informed the court that on the said day, the man entered the victim’s bedroom, sexually harassed her and raped her.
During the incident, the victim’s older brother and a younger sibling were also in the same room and saw the man’s actions, the court heard.
Unrepresented, the man requested leniency by saying that he is married and has many dependents.
The prosecution applied a deterrent sentence as the man and the victim have a relationship that is not allowed under religious law to marry, public interest and that the man did the act without considering the presence of the victim’s siblings who were also in the bedroom during the incident.
The first count was framed under Section 376 (3) of the Penal Code which carries a jail term of between eight years and 30 years and whipping not less than 10 times, on conviction.
The second court, under Section 14 (a) of the Sexual Offences against Children Act 2017, carries a jail term of up to 20 years, and whipping on conviction.
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