Kota Kinabalu: A 38-year-old man was jailed 11 years and ordered to be given two strokes of the cane for raping his underaged girlfriend, seven years ago.
Session Court Judge Amir Shah Amir Hassan Meted out the sentence to Chrisdey Ceddy Ranti Bungal who pleaded guilty to the charge against him.
Chrisdey was arrested on May 15 after he failed to turn up in court on May 27, 2017.
He had raped the 15-year-old girl between noon and midnight on Jan 15, 2017 at a room of a house in Tuaran.
The offence under Section 376(2)(d) of the Penal Code carries a jail between 10 and 30 years, and whipping, on conviction.
The court ordered Chrisdey to serve the jail sentence from the date of his arrest on May 15.
After serving the jail sentence, he was ordered to be placed under police supervision for a year.
During mitigation, Chrisdey asked for a lenient sentence and to be spared from whipping as he was suffering from many diseases.
He added that if possible, he wished to be released.
However, Deputy Public Prosecutor Nurul Shafeerah Mad Iskim urged the court to impose a deterrent sentence as such case was rampant.
According to Nurul, a deterrent sentence could curb frequency of similar case which involved young girls being the victims of sexual case.
The court heard that the incident happened when the victim went out from a hostel and her boyfriend Chrisdey then brought her to his home.
After arriving at Chrisdey’s home, he then raped the girl.
The incident came to light when the girl’s teacher asked her where was she on Jan 15, 2017 as she was not in the hostel.
The girl then revealed about the rape incident.
