By Dorcas Ting
KUCHING, Oct 28: A 29-year-old soldier with the rank of lance corporal will spend 18 years behind bars and receive 14 strokes of the rotan for raping his wife’s 12-year-old niece.
Session Court Judge Iris Awen Jon found the lance corporal guilty on two counts under Section 376(1) of the Penal Code, which provides for up to 20 years’ imprisonment and whipping.
He was handed 16 years and six strokes on the first count, and 18 years and eight strokes on the second. Both jail terms are to run concurrently from Sept 20, 2024, the date he was remanded.
The judge found that the prosecution had established its case beyond reasonable doubt.
Although flight tickets were produced to suggest the accused was away from Sarawak at the time, no independent evidence backed this up.
The court heard that the girl, then 12, was assaulted twice at the accused’s home in an army camp in Kuching, once on Dec 20, 2023, and again in January 2024.
In the first incident, she was sleeping at the house when he allegedly pushed her onto a mattress and covered her mouth as she struggled. In the second, he allegedly pulled her shirt so that she fell, then removed her trousers and raped her.
The girl told her mother what had happened and a police report was lodged, leading to the man’s arrest.
Beyond the prison term, the court ordered him to undergo rehabilitative counselling while in custody under Section 26 of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act (SOACA) 2017.
After his release, he will be placed under police supervision for two years.
Deputy Public Prosecutors Mohamad Aiman Mutallib Mohamad Shariff and Chuah Kai Sheng called six witnesses for the prosecution, while counsel Joshua Lee Sik Ern called three for the defence. – DayakDaily
