KOTA KINABALU: A 20-year-old teenager was charged with raping his girlfriend at the Sessions Court here yesterday.
Md Ramdan Mudin, pleaded not guilty before judge Indra Ayub to the offence which he allegedly committed on Dec 5 this year at a house in Kepayan Ridge.
He purportedly raped his 14-year-old girlfriend at around 3am.
The offence, framed under Section 376(1) of the Penal Code, is punishable with a maximum prison term of 20 years and whipping if found guilty upon conviction.
Deputy public prosecutor Chan Qin Yee requested for a case management date, but stated that no bail was being offered by the prosecution.
Counsel PJ Perera, who defended Ramdan, said that it was the discretion of the court to grant bail.
Perera added that his client was a local, and that the distance between Ramdan’s and the victim’s houses was seven kilometres.
He also said that the victim and her mother, who is a teacher at a high school, had no objections to bail being granted by the court.
Perera proposed a bail of RM5,000 with RM2,500 deposited with the condition that Ramdan reported himself to the nearest police station once every two weeks. The bail, he added, would secure Ramdan’s attendance.
Chan contested that the offence was non-bailable, and that without a bail, the accused’s attendance would be secured.
Next, she argued that there was a high tendency that Ramdan would tamper with the victim.
Perera replied that as a secondary condition, his client would have no contact with the victim or the other witnesses in the case.
Judge Indra fixed case management on Feb 3, 2015, while the trial would be held on March 26 – 27, 2015.
He also granted Ramdan bail of RM20,000 with a deposit of RM10,000 with two local sureties while imposing the condition that Ramdan has no contact with the witnesses or the victims, and that he report to the nearest police station on the first and 15th day of the month.
If any of the conditions was not met, Indra added, the bail would be revoked by the court.