Kota Kinabalu: A 42-year-old man failed in his appeal against his two convictions on sexual offences against his 15-year-old grandniece.
High Court Judge Ismail Brahim in delivering his ruling on Monday dismissed the security guard’s appeal and affirmed the sentence imposed on him by the lower court.
The appellant was on Feb 24, 2021 found guilty by the Sessions Court after a full trial of the charges.
He was sentenced to 10 years’ jail and ordered three strokes of the cane on the first count of raping the victim (now 20) at midnight on March 12, 2017 at a house in Kota Marudu’s village.
On the second count, the man was handed three years’ jail and ordered to be caned twice for committing physical sexual assault on the same victim at the same place and time.
He was ordered to serve the imprisonment sentence from the date of his conviction and his jail terms were also ordered to run concurrently.
The first count was framed under Section 376(2)(d) of the Penal Code which carries a jail term of between five years and 30 years and whipping, if convicted, while the second count under Section 14(a) of the Sexual Offences against Children Act 2017 provides for a jail term of up to 20 years and whipping on conviction.
The appellant was represented by counsel Siti Zawiyah Abd Zain while Deputy Public Prosecutor Rozana Abdul Hadi appeared for the prosecution as the respondent.
