Corpun file 26233 at www.corpun.com
The Borneo Post, Kuching, 26 November 2015, p.2
Eight light strokes for rape of underage girl
SIBU: An 18-year-old youth who pleaded guilty to raping a 14-year-old girl was yesterday sentenced by the Juvenile Court here to eight light strokes of the cane.
The youth was 17 years and seven months old at the time of the offence between October and November in 2014.
The charge against him was filed under Section 376(1) of the Penal Code which provides for an imprisonment up to 20 years and possible whipping.
On Feb 12, police officer Corporal Zainab Razali received a phone call from Sibu Hospital saying that a girl believed to have been raped at a longhouse in Sg Naman was being treated at the hospital emergency room.
The police arrested a suspect from Ulu Naman in Julau/Kanowit Road at 12.25pm on Sept 7.
Investigation shows that the suspect and the girl were lovers in 2014 when she was in Form 2. They were said to have sex many times at the longhouse, always around 2pm.
Their relationship ended towards the end of 2014.
On Feb 12 this year, the girl felt not well while in school, and was sent to the hospital where she was found to be pregnant.
Her parents were duly notified and a check at Julau Polyclinic confirmed that she was indeed pregnant. She gave birth to a baby boy in Sibu Hospital at 7.47am on June 24.
DNA report proves that the accused is the biological father of the baby.
Corpun file 26232 at www.corpun.com
The Borneo Post, Kuching, 26 November 2015, p.2
Two youths given maximum jail sentence for rape
By Anasathia Jenis
KUCHING: A youth was sentenced to a total of 38 years behind bars and to be given 21 strokes of rotan for committing rape, unnatural sex and robbery on a young childcare assistant early this month.
His accomplice, who is also a youth, was sentenced to a total of 30 years in jail and to be given 13 strokes of rotan for committing rape and robbery on the same victim.
Sessions Court Judge Dayang Ellyna Narisa Abang Ahmad yesterday imposed the sentences on Mohamad Zulzarezan Noor, 21, from Kampung Tupong Ulu and Mohd Shah Rizal Morshidi, 22, from Kampung Tupong Jaya after they pleaded guilty to the charges framed against them.
Zulzaren was given the maximum imprisonment term of 20 years for raping the 19-year-old victim, eight years and 10 years jail for committing the unnatural sex whereby he forced the accused to do oral sex and robbing her of her belongings, respectively.
Meanwhile, Shah Rizal who faced only two charges was also given maximum jail sentence of 20 years for raping the victim and 10 years' jail for robbery.
All the custodial sentences were ordered to run consecutively and to take effect from the date of their remand on Nov 8.
The offences were committed at a childcare centre in Taman Monah in Petrajaya here on Nov 6 between 1am and 6.30am. Earlier on, they broke into the premises.
The victim was alone in the centre when the incident happened. In her statement, she said she was traumatised and suffering from phobia towards her surroundings.
Their defence counsel Lim Lian Kee during the mitigation pleaded for leniency in sentencing.
He said they were youthful offenders when committing the offence and therefore deserved a second chance to turn over a new leaf.
Lim also emphasised that they were 'man' enough and honest when deciding to admit to the act rather than claim trial which will only cost the court time, money and energy.
At the same time, the duo had also wanted to apologise to the court as well as to the victim for their act, he added.
DPP Poh Yih Tinn, however, strongly opposed the mitigation submission and urged the sentence imposed be proportionate to the damage and harm done to the victim.
Poh said they not only physically attacked but had also sexually assaulted the victim for a length of time, which should be among the aggravating factors in the heinous act to be considered, which the judge had agreed with.
He said public interest had to be taken into account, given the presence of media personnel in the court to follow up on the case that had shocked members of the public after it came to light.
It was learnt that the girl had fainted many times due to excessive fear to strangers and had to attend counselling sessions to overcome the nightmare.
Co-prosecuting was DPP Muhammad Tajul Aarifin Musa.
