Madisin (right) was jailed for touching the private parts of a girl in a village in Kota Belud.
KOTA KINABALU: A 61-year-old man was jailed for nine years by the Sessions Court here yesterday for touching the private parts of a girl.
Judge Ainul Shahrin Mohamed passed the sentence on Madisin Sarabun after he pleaded guilty to committing the offence against an eight-year-old girl in an unnumbered house at a village in Kota Belud at 12.40am on May 2 this year.
The offence under Section 14 (a) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017 carries a jail term of up to 20 years and also liable to whipping, upon conviction.
Ainul also ordered the accused to be placed under police supervision for two years after serving the sentence.
In mitigation, Madisin, who was not represented, said he has to support two family members, including an elderly mother and a disabled sister, and that he and his mother were not very healthy.
Meanwhile, deputy public prosecutor Wan Farrah Farriza Wan Ghazali, urged the court to pass a deterrent sentence as the accused had committed a serious offence which is an heinous act committed against the girl.
She also submitted that pleading guilty was not a mitigating factor although the accused admitted on the first instance.
Thus, taking into consideration the rampancy of the offence and public interest, she also prayed for police supervision to be imposed against the accused.
Based on the facts of the case, the court heard that the victim’s father was about to go to bed when he heard his daughter’s scream.
When he entered the victim’s room and turned on the light, he saw the accused inside the room but the latter quickly fled the house through the kitchen.
The victim then told the complainant that the accused had touched her private parts, prompting the complainant to lodge a police report on the same day.
Based on a tip-off, the police managed to arrest the accused at an unnumbered house in the village at 3pm on May 2.
In another courtroom, a man, who was charged with kissing a 10-year-old girl on her lips had his bail application rejected.
S. Suherman Suharnoh, 38, who appeared before judge Indra Hj Ayub, made the application through his counsel during a pre-trial case management, yesterday.
Suherman was accused of committing the offence in a room of an unnumbered house in a village in Labuan at 11am on February 11.
The alleged offence was framed under Section 14(a) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017.
Indra fixed trial date on September 27 – 28 this year in Labuan and ordered the accused to be further detained in custody, pending disposal of the case.