By Dorcas Ting
KUCHING, Jul 13: The Court of Appeal stood by a 16-year prison sentence and five strokes of the cane for a 36-year-old worker convicted of raping a 14-year-old girl in 2022, rejecting the convict’s appeal for a lighter punishment on the grounds that the penalty fit the severity of his crimes.
The appellant, identified as Bolhasan, had challenged the sentence handed down by the High Court last year, but the appellate bench ruled the punishment was neither too harsh nor too lenient.
The three-judge panel, made up of Datuk Dr Wan Alwi Abdul Wahab, Datuk Ahmad Kamal Md Shahid and Muniandy Kannyapan, issued the ruling after examining Bolhasan’s appeal.
In delivering the verdict, the judges highlighted that they had carefully considered the nature of the sexual offences and the profound harm inflicted on the underage victim, concluding that the existing sentence was appropriate and served the interests of justice.
The criminal acts took place on November 10, 2022, across two distinct locations in Petra Jaya and a nearby village.
Court records show that Bolhasan first sexually assaulted the teenage victim at approximately 12pm and 5pm outside a building in Petra Jaya. Later that day, at around 10pm, he raped her again at an unnumbered house in a village in the same region.
The case came to the attention of authorities after the victim visited a local hospital complaining of severe abdominal pain. During her medical consultation, she confided in doctors that she had been raped.
Upon learning of the incident, the victim’s elder sister immediately filed a police report, triggering a formal investigation.
Law enforcement officers subsequently arrested Bolhasan at a village on December 8, 2022, just weeks after the assaults occurred.
Medical and forensic evidence was pivotal in securing Bolhasan’s conviction, which was supported by a detailed medical report.
Further police investigations uncovered that Bolhasan had raped the victim twice at a park and had also engaged in other non-consensual sexual acts with her.
Bolhasan’s legal battle has spanned multiple court levels over the past two years. On February 28, 2024, the Sessions Court found him guilty on two counts of rape under Section 376(1) of the Penal Code and one count of violating Section 14(b) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017, sentencing him to 22 years in prison and five strokes of the cane.
Bolhasan appealed the Sessions Court’s decision, and on February 19, 2025, the High Court granted his appeal, revising his sentence to 16 years of imprisonment while retaining the five strokes of the cane.
Unhappy with the High Court’s revised penalty, Bolhasan filed a second appeal to the Court of Appeal, asking for a further reduction in his jail term and the request that was formally denied today.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Atiqah Abdul Karim led the prosecution during the appellate hearing. She argued that the High Court’s 16-year sentence was already a significant reduction from the original 22-year term handed down by the Sessions Court and warned that any further leniency would trivialise the seriousness of sexual crimes against minors in Malaysia.
Bolhasan was represented by Simon Siah, a lawyer appointed by the National Legal Aid Foundation (Yayasan Bantuan Guaman Kebangsaan). Siah contended that his client should receive a shorter sentence, citing Bolhasan’s personal background and the fact that he had no prior criminal record.
However, the Court of Appeal dismissed this argument, stressing that protecting children and deterring sexual violence against minors are top priorities in Malaysian criminal justice. — DayakDaily
