KUCHING: A kuih seller, who was influenced by pornographic video, was sentenced to a total of 39 years imprisonment and 11 strokes of the cane by the Sessions Court here today for raping his 13-year-old mentally disabled stepsister on three separate occasions.
The 22-year-old accused pleaded guilty to all three charges under Section 376 (2)(k) of the Penal Code, read in front of Judge Iris Awen Jon.
All of the imprisonment terms are to run consecutively and the accused was ordered by the court to undergo rehabilitative counselling during the period of sentences.
He was also ordered to undergo police supervision for two years upon serving sentences.
Section 376(2)(k) of the Penal Code is an aggravated rape provision where it applies when the perpetrator commits rape while knowing that the victim suffers from a mental disability, emotional disorder, or physical handicap.
Under Section 376(2)(k) of the Penal Code, if convicted, the accused shall be punished with imprisonment for a term of up to 30 years and shall also be punished with whipping.
For the first charge, he was sentenced to 13 years imprisonment and four strokes of whipping.
For the second charge, the accused was sentenced to 13 years imprisonment and three strokes of whipping, and for the third charge, he was sentenced to 13 years imprisonment and four strokes of whipping.
The accused committed the offences on three separate occasions (August 2025 at 11:30 pm, September 2025 at 10:00 pm and January of this year at 6:00 pm) at a house in a village near Balai Ringin, Serian, where he raped his mentally disabled sister.
Fact of the case revealed that the complainant, who is an officer from Serian Social Welfare Department (SWD), received an information regarding a 13-year-old-girl who was 33 weeks pregnant at the time.
The complainant then went to the Serian Hospital to interview the child including her biological mother and stepfather.
During the interview, the child admitted that his stepbrother had raped her at the said location.
The complainant lodged a police report following the incident.
On May 26, at 5:10 pm, police arrested the accused at a vendor of a building in Balai Ringin here. The police also seized a mobile phone during the arrest.
Investigations revealed that the incident first occurred in August 2025 when the girl was forcibly raped by the accused while she was sleeping.
The incident then happened repeatedly after that (September 2025 and January of this year).
All of the three incidents happened when their parents were not around and the victim was all by herself.
Medical examinations showed a tear on her private part and and she was confirmed to be 33 weeks pregnant.
During mitigation, the accused, who was unrepresented, prayed for lenient sentences as he is currently taking care of his old aged grandmother.
However, Deputy Public Prosecutor, Chuah Kai Sheng, requested for heavier sentences not only to punished the accused, but also as a deterrent to the members of public.
“Prosecution would also wish to highlight that the accused had taken advantage upon the victim who has mental disability,” he said.
He added that the sentence must commensurate with the seriousness of the offence and must reflect the degree of public disapproval for that particular type of criminal behaviour.
“Prosecution in this instance urges the court to take judicial notice of the rape cases being recorded in the year of 2025, with the shocking numbers of 2,074 cases,” he added.
The case was investigated by Inspector Nur Munirah Pardanah.
