By Dorcas Ting
KUCHING, Oct 8: The Sessions Court here sentenced an unemployed man to 19 years in prison and five strokes of the cane for robbing and raping a woman.
Mohammad Fadzil Firman, 27, from Miri, was charged with two charges here today and he pleaded guilty to both charges.
Sessions Court Judge Dayang Ellyn Narisa Abang Ahmad accepted his plea of guilty and convicted him as charged.
The accused robbed and raped a 23-year-old woman at a fruit plantation at Simpang Kampung Kangka, at about 7 pm on September 2.
He was charged under Section 392 of the Penal Code for stealing a handphone belonging to the victim. This Section carries an imprisonment term which may extend to 14 years and liable to fine or to whipping, upon conviction.
Judge Dayang Ellyn Narisa sentenced him to an imprisonment of 7 years and 1 stroke of the cane under this Section.
He was also charged under Section 376(2)(b) of the Penal Code for raping the woman. This section carries imprisonment term between 10 years and 30 years and liable to whipping, upon conviction.
He was sentenced to an imprisonment of 14 years and 4 strokes of the cane under Section 376(2)(b) of the Penal Code.
In view that both offences were different, therefore, Judge Dayang ordered the imprisonment term to be run consecutively.
According to the brief facts of the case, on the day of the crime, the accused brought the victim on a motorbike to survey a place where the victim had applied for a job as a clerk. When they were on their way from Pangkalan Feri Rambungan towards Lundu, the accused brought the victim to an oil palm estate and went into a fruit plantation.
The accused then raped the victim at the scene and robbed her of her handphone. The complainant then ran towards the highway and the accused left the victim and the scene.
The victim then went home by stopping a passer-by and told her sister about the incident and lodged a police report.
The psychiatric report revealed that the complainant was diagnosed with acute stress disorder and major depression disorder.
The case was prosecuted by DPP Ruthra Raj while the accused was unrepresented.— DayakDaily
