KOTA KINABALU: A 31-year-old man was yesterday sentenced to 26 years behind bars with six strokes of the cane by the Sessions Court here, on two counts of raping his 14-year-old niece.
Judge Ainul Shahrin Mohamad passed the sentence after the accused informed the court that he wished to change his plea to that of guilty when his case came up for trial.
On the first count, the accused received 13 years’ jail with three strokes of the cane for having sex with his under-age niece in a Papar village in mid-September last year, between 1pm and 2pm.
On the second count, the accused was handed the same punishment for committing a similar offence involving the same girl, at the same place on December 23 last year, around 9pm.
Both charges were framed under Section 375(g) of the Penal Code, which is punishable with a maximum jail sentence of 20 years with whipping, and under Section 376(1) of the same Code.
In meting out the punishment, Ainul held that although the accused and the victim had engaged in consensual sex, Section 375 (g) of the Penal Code provides that, when a child is under the age of 16, her consent becomes irrelevant.
Moreover, said Ainul, these types of cases are very serious and heinous in nature, what more when it is committed by a family member who is supposed to protect other family members.
She then ordered for the accused to serve the sentences consecutively, starting from his date of arrest.
During mitigation, counsel Goldam Hamid for the accused informed the court that the sexual intercourse took place with the victim’s consent.
There was no element of force and no violence involved, said Goldam, who also implored the court to show leniency to his client as the latter had pleaded guilty and saved the court a lot of cost.
In reply, deputy public prosecutor Hafizah Zahidah Abdullah contended that the atrocious crime committed by the accused had destroyed the future of the victim.
Therefore, Hafizah pressed for a deterrent sentence to be imposed on the accused for each charge, as nothing can turn back the clock.
According to the facts of the case, the victim’s mother, who is also the accused’s cousin, lodged a police report as she suspected her daughter had been raped by the accused.
Upon interrogation, the victim admitted to having had sex with the accused at two different times.
After further investigation, the victim was brought to Likas Hospital for a medical examination, which confirmed old tears in her hymen.
Following that, the accused was brought into custody at the Papar police station on December 25 last year.