By Dorcas Ting
KUCHING, Aug 27: The High Court today quashed the statutory rape sentence of a 26-year-old man and instead bound him to a five-year good behaviour bond, in a case centred on his Iban customary marriage to his 14-year-old wife.
Court of Appeal judge Leonard David Shim delivered the ruling after hearing submissions from both the prosecution and the defence, setting aside the Sessions Court’s earlier sentence of 15 years’ imprisonment and four strokes of the cane for two counts of rape.
Instead, the court ordered the appellant to be bound over on a five-year good behaviour bond with an RM5,000 surety (without deposit) and two local sureties.
The case stemmed from a complex intersection of customary law and national statute. Defence counsel Moh Ung Kieng argued that his client and the girl were married according to Iban custom on Jan 14, 2024, in Debak, Sri Aman.
The marriage was documented with a Surat Penerang Jadi Melaki Bini (Letter of Explanation to Become Husband and Wife), witnessed by the community chief, or Tuai Rumah. Following the ceremony, the couple lived together in a longhouse with the wife’s parents.
The marriage resulted in pregnancy, with the girl confirmed to be five months pregnant during a health clinic examination on July 1, 2024.
However, because the victim was a minor and the marriage was not registered with the National Registration Department (JPN), a police report was lodged and the man was charged under Section 376(1) of the Penal Code for statutory rape.
He had previously pleaded guilty in the Sessions Court to two charges of raping the underage girl, leading to her pregnancy. On Sept 2, 2024, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison and two strokes of the cane for each charge, with the sentences to run concurrently.
The appellant had already served one year in the Sri Aman Central Prison while awaiting the outcome of his appeal, which was filed on Sept 13, 2024.
With the High Court’s decision today, that sentence has been set aside and replaced with the five-year bond.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Nor Azhari Yusof appeared for the prosecution. — DayakDaily
