KOTA KINABALU: The Sessions Court here yesterday ordered a local man charged with raping his own daughter to be sent to a mental hospital.
High Court deputy registrar Noor Hafizah Mohd Salim made the order on the 38-year-old man following an application by his counsel Batholomew Jingulam to refer the accused there as requested by the accused’s family.
Noor Hafizah, who presided as a Sessions Court judge, was supposed to hear the mitigation of the accused, who had earlier pleaded guilty to raping his daughter aged 15 at a hut in a village in Membakut at 5pm on Sept 16.
The accused had retracted his plea of guilty to one of not guilty under Section 376 (B) of the Penal Code which is punishable by a jail term of up to 30 years and whipping, upon conviction.