KOTA KINABALU: The Sessions Court yesterday sentenced a 26-year-old man to 18 years’ jail and three strokes of the cane for raping a teenage girl.
Judge Ummu Khalthom Abdul Samad meted out the sentence on Mohd Sharizal Ishak for committing the offence on August 23, 2011 around 11.30pm at an unnumbered house in Pitas.
Ummu Khalthom on August 2 found Mohd Sharizal guilty of the charge framed under Section 376 (2) of the Penal Code which carries a jail term of up to 20 years and also liable to whipping, but deferred sentencing to yesterday as she needed time to study other cases involving rape.
The case has been classified as statutory rape as the victim was under 16 years old.
Deputy public prosecutor Chow Siang Kong urged for a deterrent sentence on the grounds that the accused had committed a serious offence and added that rape cases were rampant nowadays.
The victim had since given birth to the accused’s child even though there was no special relationship between them, Chow added.
In passing the sentence yesterday, Ummu said she took into account that the young victim was traumatized and had to suffer for her whole life with an uncertain future.
She also ordered the accused to be placed under police supervision for one year after serving his jail sentence.