KUCHING: The Sessions Court here today sentenced a phone salesman to 10 years in prison and six strokes of the cane for raping a 15-year-old girl earlier this month.
Judge Musli Ab Hamid handed down the sentence to the 21-year-old man after he pleaded guilty to a charge under Section 376(1) of the Penal Code.
The offence carries a maximum penalty of 20 years’ imprisonment and whipping.
The court also ordered the man to undergo rehabilitation counselling during his sentence, under Section 26(1) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act (SOACA) 2017, as well as police supervision for two years after completing his sentence, under Section 27(1) of the same Act.
He committed the offence on May 11, between 2am and 3am, on the bedroom floor of an apartment unit near Green Road here.
The facts of the case revealed that the complainant, who is the victim’s mother, was about to wake her daughter for school.
She was shocked when she saw the man hiding behind the door of her daughter’s room, completely naked.
The mother suspected that he had raped her daughter and immediately lodged a police report.
Eight days later, on May 20, the man was arrested by a police task force from Sungai Maong police station in front of a fresh food market near Jalan Stapok.
Investigations revealed that the man had sneaked into their home at 9pm on May 10 to commit the offence.
The man and the girl had known each other since August 2024 and had begun a relationship in April of this year.
The offence comes under statutory rape even though both the accused and the victim had engaged in sexual intercourse consensually.
Meanwhile, the victim was taken to the hospital after experiencing mild pain and blood traces when urinating following the act.
A medical examination found that the victim had suffered a tear in her private part.
Given that the victim was only 15 years and at the time of the incident, the legal element of statutory rape was satisfied.
Therefore, the man was found to have committed an offence under Section 376(1) of the Penal Code for raping the victim.
During the proceedings, the prosecution applied for a deterrent sentence as a lesson to the accused and to prevent anyone from committing similar offences.
The case was investigated by Inspector Nur Ain Wong, while the man was unrepresented.
