KOTA KINABALU: A little girl, who was scolded by her parents whenever she told them that she was raped by her grand uncle since she was seven, will no longer have to be his victim as he was sentenced to 11 years in jail and five strokes of the cane by the Sessions Court here yesterday.
Judge Azreena Aziz made the decision on the 55-year-old accused after he decided to change his not guilty plea to guilty.
The girl, who is now nine, was raped at a village house in Tamparuli on February 17.
The accused was charged under Section 376 (1) of the Penal Code which provides for a maximum jail term of 20 years and whipping, upon conviction.
Deputy public prosecutor Muhammad Zuhaili Mat Rani told the court that in one of the rape incidents, the accused came to the victims home for an alcohol drinking session and when they got drunk, all of them decided to sleep in the house, where the victim was staying.
Not long after that, when the victim’s parents were asleep, the accused woke the victim up and brought her to another spot in the house.
The accused then took off the victims clothing and raped her.
The victim had complained to her parents but they did not believe her.
The victim also revealed that she had been raped by the accused since she was seven years old.
In mitigation, the unrepresented accused said he was an old man and came from a poor family.
In response, the prosecution urged the court to impose a severe sentence on the accused as he had committed an offence which was unacceptable to the community.
Muhammad Zuhaili also said that the victims statement on the rape incident was supported by a medical report which detected a complete or full old tear and partial old tear in her hymen.
The prosecution further said the victim also reported that she had complained about the rape to her parents but ended up being scolded.
Therefore, the prosecution urged the court to consider justice not only to be done to the accused but also to the helpless little girl, who received zero support from her parents.
Muhammad Zuhaili also submitted that based on the chemist’s report, the accuseds DNA was also found on the mattress cover that was said to be the place where the rape took place.
The prosecution added that the victim was now under the care of a protection house.