Kota Kinabalu: A 36-year-old electrician was ordered to enter his defence on a charge of raping his stepdaughter.
Sessions Court Judge Ummu Khaltom Abdul Samad made the order for the man after ruling that the prosecution had established a prima facie case against the man on Thursday.
The court set Aug 18-19 this year for the man’s defence.
The court was informed that the defence will call three witnesses including the man during the defence.
The man is accused of raping the 13-years and eight-months-old girl in January 2019 at 8pm at a rented house in Putatan.
The offence, under Section 376(3) of the Penal Code, carries a jail term of between eight and 30 years and at least 10 strokes of whipping on conviction.
Some nine witnesses had testified during the hearing at the prosecution stage.
Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Fauzi Acho stood in for DPP Adibah Saiful Bahri while the man was represented by counsel P.J Perira.
In another case, a 28-year-old man charged with raping an underaged girl, will go trial on Feb 20-22, 2023.
The court gave the date for Doni Apau when his case was brought up for pre-trial case management.
During the proceedings, all documents pertaining to the case had been served to Doni.
Doni allegedly raped the 15-year-old girl in early December 2016 at 2pm at a hostel room in Kg Lohan Ulu, Ranau.
He was charged under Section 376(1) of the Penal Code which provides for a jail term of up to 20 years and whipping on conviction.
Pending the trial date, the court had extended Doni’s bail.
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