KOTA KINABALU: A man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison and 11 canings after being found guilty of raping his sister-in-law in 2021. The judgement was made by Sessions Court Judge Elsie Primus, who stated that the prosecution successfully proved the case beyond a reasonable doubt. The accused, aged 55 and a passport holder, committed the rape at a village house in the northern Kota Belud district on February 8, 2021. During the trial, the victim tearfully expressed her emotional pain, as she viewed the accused as a father figure.
The accused was charged under Section 376(3) of the Penal Code, which specifies a jail term of 8 to 30 years and a minimum of 10 strokes of whipping upon conviction. Throughout the trial, the prosecution presented nine witnesses, while the defense relied on testimonies from the accused and his wife. Although not legally represented, during the mitigation stage, the man pleaded for leniency from the court, emphasizing his responsibilities to his five children from his first marriage, as his first wife had passed away, and he and his second wife had no children together.
In response, Deputy Public Prosecutor Tham Pou Jin urged the court to impose a heavy sentence as a deterrent. He highlighted the victim’s initial hesitation to identify the accused during the trial, stating that it reflected the lasting trauma she experienced due to the crime. According to Tham, the victim was so traumatized that she refused to look at the accused. It was his contention that a strong sentence would underline the seriousness of such offenses.
SABAH SARAWAK, COURTS CRIME
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Credit: The Star : News Feed
