KOTA KINABALU: A 15-year-old boy was among three people arrested by police in connection with the rape of a girl in Sabah’s east coast Tawau district.
The girl, 15, had initially been reported missing on Friday (Aug 23) but had since been found safe at Kampung Jawa on Tuesday (Aug 27).
Tawau police chief Asst Comm Jasmin Hussin said the suspects, aged 15 to 29, were picked up at several locations in the district between 9pm and midnight the same day the girl was found.
He said the girl had been reported missing after she failed to return home on Friday, adding she was found at 1am on Tuesday.
“When she was at the Tawau police station, the girl claimed she was raped by three men who were known to her,” he said, on Wednesday (Aug 28).
“An investigation was launched once the police report was lodged,” he said, adding their probe subsequently led to the arrest of the suspects.
ACP Jasmin said the suspects have been remanded until Sept 4 for further investigations which have been framed under Section 376(1) of the Penal Code for rape.
It was learned that the elder sister only found out the girl had gone missing after calling the latter’s schoolmate.
The friend had told the sister did not attend school on Friday.
The family then turned to social media to appeal for help from the public to locate the girl.
