Kota Kinabalu: A 53-year-old Indonesian was charged with two counts of raping an underaged girl.
Darwis Muhammad, a gardener, pleaded not guilty before Sessions Court Judge Elsie Primus, Friday.
On the first count, Darwis is accused of raping the 12-year-old girl inside a hut at Kg Pintasan, Kota Belud, last November.
On the second count, he allegedly raped the same girl at the same place on Dec 23, last year.
The offence under Section 376(1) of the Penal Code carries a jail term of up to 20 years, and whipping, on conviction.
The court set April 29 for case management and ordered Darwis to be remanded further pending the disposal of his case.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Tham Pou Jin appeared for the prosecution while Darwis was not represented.
In another case, a 43-year-old man was jailed five years and ordered given a stroke of the cane for taking syabu repeatedly.
Ajery Kassim pleaded guilty before Sessions Court Judge Amir Shah Amir Hassan to taking the drug at 6.10pm on Jan 29 after his urine was tested positive at the police station here.
Ajery has three previous conviction records for taking drugs.
After serving the jail sentence, Ajery was ordered to be placed under police supervision for three years.