By Dorcas Ting
KUCHING, Nov 1: The Sessions Court here sentenced a man to a total jail term of 24 years and 14 strokes of the cane for raping and sexually assaulting his 13-year-old sister-in-law.
The 31-year-old accused pleaded guilty to two charges before Sessions Court Judge Afidah Abdul Rahman.
For the first charge, the accused was charged with raping the victim who was 13-years-old at the time.
He was charged under Section 376(1) of the Penal Code, which carries a term of imprisonment between 10 and 30 years and with whipping.
As for the second charge, the accused was charged with sexually assaulting the same victim by touching her breast and her private part for sexual purposes.
He was charged under Section 14(a) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017, punishable under Section 14 of the same Act and read together with Section 16 of the same Act, which carries a maximum jail term of 20 years and with whipping.
The accused was charged with carrying out both crimes at a house in Siniawan, Bau, at about 11 am on October 24, 2022.
Justice Afidah sentenced the accused to imprisonment of 18 years and 10 strokes of the cane on the first charge, and 6 years’ imprisonment and 4 strokes of the cane on the second charge.
The judge also ordered both imprisonment terms to run consecutively and the accused to undergo three years of police supervision after serving his jail sentence.
According to the brief facts of the case, on the day of the incident, the accused entered the victim’s room and told her that he had bought her breakfast.
The victim was sleeping at that time. The accused then suddenly laid down next to her on the bed before touching her breast and her private part then raping her even though she was menstruating.
The victim lodged a police report at about 3.50pm on October 24 and the accused was subsequently arrested.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Mohamad Aiman Mutallib Mohammad Shariff prosecuted while the accused was unrepresented by counsel. — DayakDaily
