KOTA KINABALU: A 32-year-old local driver who raped a granddaughter of his cousin was jailed for 18 years and ordered to be given five strokes of the cane by the Sessions Court here yesterday.
Judge Duncan Sikodol passed the sentence after the accused admitted to raping the underage girl in a van at an oil palm plantation in Papar in July 2012.
He was convicted under Section 376 (2) (e) of the Penal Code which provides for a maximum jail term of 30 years and whipping upon conviction.
Deputy public prosecutor Chow Siang Kong told the court that the victim’s mother was informed by one of her daughters about a baby boy at their home.
The mother then went home and found the victim squatting in the bathroom and a baby boy placed on a plate rack.
After being questioned repeatedly, the victim finally admitted to giving birth to the baby as a result of her relationship with the accused.
The victim told her mother that she gave birth to the baby at about 1am on April 13 this year.
Her mother then took the victim and the baby to a clinic in Papar but a doctor advised the mother to bring them to a hospital because the victim was suffering from childbirth injuries while the baby had lung complication.
Further examination at the hospital found that the victim was raped around July 2012 based on her pregnancy duration.
Police investigation revealed that the victim and the accused became close since early 2012 when the accused was sending the victim and her sister to school as well as fetching them from school.
The accused, who was not represented by a lawyer, pleaded for leniency, saying he has to provide for three children and his parents, and he regretted what he had done.
The prosecution submitted that the accused had committed a serious offence as he raped an underage child until she gave birth to his baby.