Molest: Man gets seven years, rotan
Published on: Thursday, March 28, 2024
By: Cynthia D Baga
The offence under Section 14(a) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017 provides for a jail term of up to 20 years, and whipping, on conviction.
Kota Kinabalu: A 61-year-old man who committed sexual physical harassment against his niece and her friend, was jailed a total of seven years and ordered to get two strokes of the cane.
The man pleaded guilty before Sessions Court Judge Elsie Primus.
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On the first count, the man was jailed three years plus one stroke of the cane for committing the offence by holding his 12-year-old niece’s right thigh at 2am on Oct 25, 2021 at a house in Kota Belud.
On the second count, he was sentenced to four years’ jail and ordered to get one stroke of the cane for committing the same offence against his niece’s, 13-year-old, by holding her back at the same place between 1am and 2am on the same day.
The offence under Section 14(a) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017 provides for a jail term of up to 20 years, and whipping, on conviction.
The court ordered the man to serve the jail sentence concurrently and to undergo rehabilitative counselling.
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After completing his jail sentence, the man was ordered placed under police supervision for three years.
In asking for leniency, the man who was not represented, informed the court that he was suffering from many illnesses.
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He also told the court that his wife is sick and his children are still schooling.
The man asked for no whipping to be imposed due to his age.
However, Deputy Public Prosecutor Siti Hajar Mazlan urged for a deterrent sentence on the grounds that the first victim was his niece.
She submitted that public interest should be given priority in imposing the sentence. The court heard that the incident happened while the victims were sleeping at the man’s house.
The man approached the victims separately and committed the offences.
During the incident, the first victim (niece) shouted and scolded the man who then fled the house.
The second victim then also revealed the same incident happened to her in which the man had asked her to keep quiet as well as stepping on her fingers.
On the following day, the victims lodged a police report.
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