Kota Kinabalu: A 43-year-old man was charged with two counts of raping and committing physical sexual harassment against his two nieces who are siblings.
The man pleaded not guilty before Sessions Court Judge Elsie Primus, to both charges against him on Tuesday.
On the first count, the man is accused of raping the nine-year-old girl between 5pm and 6pm in 2020 inside a bedroom of a house in Kota Belud.
The offence under Section 376(2)(e) of the Penal Code carries a jail between 10 and 30 years, and whipping, on conviction.
SPONSORED CONTENT Shell’s Access to Energy helps power lives of isolated communities in Sabah Kota Kinabalu: In 2017, Sabah Shell Petroleum Co Ltd (SSPC) launched Access to Energy (A2E), a Shell Social Investment programme aimed at providing affordable and continuous supply of electricity from renewable sources for communities who live without connection to the electricity grid. Read more On the second count, he allegedly committed sexual abuse against the six-year-old girl by touching her private parts also in 2020 at the same place and time.
The offence under Section 14(a) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017 provides for a jail term of up to 20 years, and whipping, on conviction.
The court set Aug 2 this year for pre-trial case management and released the man on a bail of RM10,000 in two local sureties.
The court also imposed several additional terms, namely the man was ordered to report to the nearest police station twice a month, not to enter the said village where the alleged victims are staying, to surrender his international passport, if any, not to tamper or call directly or indirectly with the prosecution witnesses especially the two alleged victims and if there is any report from the Investigating Officer or from the complainant in this case that the man attempted to call the alleged victims or complainant to withdraw their complaint, the bail will be revoked.
Earlier, counsel Mohamad Syazwan Shah Mohamad Ali, who defended the man, asked for bail to be granted saying that the man was suffering from spine injury and that he needed frequent medical attention.
Syazwan added that if bail was not granted, they were afraid that the injury would get worse.
He also informed the court that the man’s wife was not working and they have five children to look after.
However, Deputy Public Prosecutor Mas Izzaty Lokman who earlier objected to bail said, if bail was granted, she proposed RM20,000 bail with several additional terms to be imposed.
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