Kota Kinabalu: Two men who raped separately their underage relative in less than 24 hours, were jailed 18 and 20 years, respectively.
Sessions Court Judge Elsie Primus handed down the sentences to the men aged 44 and 33, after ruling that the prosecution had proven its case beyond reasonable doubt against them on Wednesday.
The 44-year-old man was sent to prison for 18 years plus eight strokes of the cane for raping the 10 years and 10 months old girl who is his niece, at noon on Sept 30, 2020 in the bushes of a palm oil estate at the village in Kota Marudu.
Meanwhile, the 33-year-old was sentenced to 20 years and ordered to be given 10 strokes of the cane for raping the same girl who is his sister-in-law, at 8am on the same day at a room of a house in the same village in Kota Marudu.
They were convicted under Section 376(3) of the Penal Code which carries a jail term of between eight and 30 years, and whipping at least 10 strokes, on conviction.
The court ordered the duo to serve jail sentences from the date of their arrest and placed under police supervision for three years after completing their jail terms.
During mitigation, counsel Adam George Aludah who defended the men, asked for leniency saying that the duo was the sole breadwinner of their families and that it was their first offence.
Adam also informed the court that his client had been detained for two years and they regretted and remorseful for their wrongdoing as well as promised to not repeat any offences in future.
He informed the court that the 44-year-old man has nine children and the other one have four children as well as their elderly parents to look after.
However, Deputy Public Prosecutor Mas Izzaty Lokman urged the court to impose a severe punishment in the form of a ‘deterrent’ to show that the judiciary was serious about dealing with the increasing prevalence of sexual crimes.
Mas Izzaty submitted that the victim was not raped once by one person in less than 24 hours but three times by two different individuals who were her relatives.
She said the first accused (the uncle) had plainly taken advantage of the victim’s condition as she just complained of being raped by the second accused (brother-in-law).
“The first accused had fraudulently offered to take the victim back to her family’s house but instead took her to an oil palm area and raped her. He even offered her RM100.
“For the second accused, he did not accompany his pregnant wife who is the victim’s sister to the clinic for check-up on the pretext of going to work. He not only lied to his wife but took advantage of the sister (victim) who in good faith agreed to take care of her sister’s children.
“He raped the victim in the absence of his wife but in the presence of his children who were in the house during the incident. He raped the victim not once but twice… indeed the accused was only charged with one charge but it does not negate the second incident.
“The second incident (raped by the second accused) happened after the victim decided to return again to the second accused’s house after being raped by the first accused as she wanted to take her sister, nieces and nephew back to her mother’s house.
“Therefore, the court should not take into account the interests of the accused persons simply because the court also need to consider the interests of the victim as well as the public.
“In this case, the duo had married and have children of their own but still cannot control their lust. Both of them who have enjoyed sexual relations in marriage, should be punished more severely,” said Mas Izzaty.
The prosecution had called eight witnesses and two defence witnesses testified during the hearing.
