By Dorcas Ting
KUCHING, Feb 26: A teenage boy has been ordered by the Sessions Court Judge Iris Awen Jon to attend Henry Gurney School until the age of 21 after he admitted to raping his 14-year-old girlfriend, who subsequently gave birth to a baby girl.
The ruling came after the 18-year-old accused pleaded guilty and a social report hearing from the Department of Social Welfare today.
According to the charge, he was accused under Section 376(1) of the Penal Code, in which he could face up to 20 years in prison and be liable for caning, for raping the underage girl in a rented room above a shop in Metrocity, Matang, around March in 2023.
According to case facts, on November 28, 2023, the victim’s mother discovered that her daughter had given birth to a baby girl, leading to a police report.
The victim’s mother, who filed the report, was unaware of her daughter’s pregnancy and suspected her daughter had engaged in intercourse with a man in Matang.
Police reports were filed for action, leading to the accused’s arrest on December 1, 2023, around 11.05am.
Investigations revealed that the accused and the victim were in a relationship, and DNA samples confirmed the accused as the biological father of the victim’s baby girl.
Prosecution was handled by Deputy Public Prosecutor Ruvinasini Pandian, while the accused was unrepresented by counsel.
Meanwhile, on December 11, 2023, the accused’s girlfriend was ordered to be of good behaviour for six months by the Magistrate’s Court for concealing the birth of the baby.
The girl pleaded guilty under Section 67 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC).
Earlier, a video circulated on social media showed residents discovering the newborn baby girl with the umbilical cord still attached in the vicinity of the housing area.
In the video, a woman was seen taking the baby to a nearby eatery for cleaning.
The baby was wrapped in towels, given disposable diapers, and fed formula milk before being taken by ambulance to the hospital. — DayakDaily
