Senior citizen claims trial to raping underage granddaughter

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KOTA KINABALU: A 67-year-old man claimed trial at the Sessions Court here yesterday to a charge of raping his granddaughter.

The elderly man who was brought before judge Ainul Shahrin Mohamad was charged under Section 376 (2) of the Penal Code with raping the 12-year-old girl in the living room of an unnumbered house in Jalan Kiansom, Inanam at 1pm in October this year.

The offence provides for a jail term of up to 30 years and also liable to whipping, upon conviction.

The court fixed December 12 this year for case management and the accused was denied bail.

Earlier, the accused was not sure whether he wanted to plead guilty or not.

Meanwhile, the accused, who was then brought to another Sessions Court here to face another two counts of trying to rape his 8-year-old grandchild and touching her private parts.

When the main charge of attempting to rape his grandchild at an unnumbered house at the same place at 11.30am on October 9 was read against him before judge Azreena Aziz, he said “Apa boleh buat, sudah kena tuduh, saya akun sajalah” (What can I do, I was accused of committing the offences, I just admit it).

The court said that the guilty plea must be his own decision and not influenced or forced by anyone.

The prosecution said that they were offering the accused an alternative charge of molesting the same victim at the same time and place.

The accused, who earlier pleaded guilty to the charge, later said that some of the facts of the case read to him were true and some were not.

The court then rejected his guilty plea and set February 2 – 4 next year for the trial of the case.

The accused was also denied bail.

Deputy public prosecutors Dominic Chew and Chow Siang Kong prosecuted.