TAWAU: Police have arrested an 18-year-old foreign youth for allegedly statutory raping a local underage girl after her father reported her missing.
Acting Tawau police chief Supt Wilynton Enchana Watt said the suspect was detained in the carpark of a mosque at Batu 2, Jalan Apas, on Tuesday evening.
Initial investigations revealed that the victim, who was located by her father at the Fajar area, admitted to living in a rented room at Jalan Haji Karim with the suspect, where they engaged in sexual relations.
Checks further confirmed that the undocumented foreigner has no prior criminal record and is being investigated under Section 376(1) of the Penal Code for rape, which carries a jail term of up to 20 years and whipping upon conviction.
He is also being investigated under Section 6(1)(c) of the Immigration Act 1959/63 for entering or residing in the country without valid documents, an offence punishable by a fine up to RM10,000, imprisonment of up to five years, or both, alongside up to six strokes of the cane.
