Albeart
KOTA KINABALU: A 21-year-old man was sentenced to eight years’ jail plus six strokes of the cane by the Sessions Court here yesterday for raping a teenage student.
Judge Ainul Shahrin Mohamed imposed the sentence on Albeart Ong after he pleaded guilty to a charge under Section 376 (1) of the Penal Code, which carries a maximum jail term of 20 years and whipping, upon conviction.
In delivering her judgment, the judge held that the accused had committed a very serious offence and although the accused pleaded guilty at the first instance, that does not automatically give him any discount for the heinous crime, which he had committed against a young victim.
The accused raped a 14-year-old girl in a room of a house in Jalan Kobusak, Penampang between 6am and 12.45pm on April 4.
In mitigation, the unrepresented accused said he had a sibling who depended on him.
Deputy public prosecutor Dinesh Raja requested the court for a deterrent sentence to be imposed on the accused on the grounds that the accused had committed a serious offence and rampancy of the offence.
Based on the facts of the case, the victim was at a high school bus stop at 6am when an unknown man (the accused) approached her and pulled her wrist towards a Perodua Kancil.
The accused then brought her into a room of a house in Jalan Kobusak, Penampang, took off her school uniform and raped her.
The victim was raped three times before the accused sent her back to the high school bus stop.
On April 5, the accused was arrested by the police and he admitted to raping the teenage girl.