By Dorcas Ting
SAMARAHAN, Nov 28: A 52-year-old male teacher was sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment and six strokes of the cane after the Sessions Court here found him guilty of sexually assaulting an 11-year-old pupil.
Judge Shafiza Datu Abdul Razak delivered the sentence after ruling that the defence had failed to raise a reasonable doubt at the end of the case.
According to the amended second charge, the teacher, who was entrusted with the care and supervision of his students, committed physical sexual assault by touching the victim’s private parts at a primary school in Kota Samarahan in May 2022.
He was charged under Section 14(a) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017, punishable under Section 14 and read together with Section 16 of the same Act.
During mitigation, defence counsel Christopher Bada requested a stay of execution pending an appeal, citing that the accused, now working as an e-hailing driver, needed to support his family and also suffers from high blood pressure.
However, the court rejected the application, stating there were no special circumstances to justify postponing the sentence.
The prosecution called 15 witnesses throughout the trial, while the defence called one witness—the accused himself.
Inspector Margaret Ena Mihos conducted the prosecution on behalf of Deputy Public Prosecutor Mohamad Aiman Mutallib Mohamad Shariff. — DayakDaily
