Kota Kinabalu: A 28-year-old man was charged in the Sessions Court with raping an underage girl here early this year.
Arman Nizam Asrul, who appeared before Judge Amir Shah Amir Hassan, pleaded not guilty to committing the crime against a 14-year-old girl on Jan 16, at 9am, in a hotel at Jalan Sulaman.
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The charge under Section 376 of the Penal Code carries a jail term of up to 20 years and whipping on conviction.
Deputy Public Prosecutor DK Afiqah Alya PG Johari, in applying for a pre-trial case management (PTCM) date, urged the court to deny bail, but proposed a sum of RM10,000 should bail be granted to the accused.
Defence counsel Jagnesh Jaya, representing Arman, appealed for a lower bail, submitting that Arman is a divorcee with two children to support.
He said the children’s mother could no longer be contacted and that they are fully dependent on him.
The court fixed Feb 16, next year for PTCM and granted bail of RM6,000 in two sureties, with conditions that the accused report to the Tuaran police station on the first day of every month and refrain from interfering with prosecution witnesses.
Meanwhile, a 37-year-old Indonesian man was charged in the Magistrate’s Court with assaulting underage boys.
Indrawan Rahman, unemployed, pleaded not guilty before Magistrate Dzul Elmy Yunus to committing the offence against the boys, aged 13 and 14, on Dec 5, at 8am, at Kg Kapa, Sinulihan, Inanam.
Indrawan was charged under Section 323 of the Penal Code.
Prosecuting officer Inspector Mohamad Hamidi Mohamad Hamzah applied for PTCM date and proposed no bail for Indrawan as he is undocumented.
Dzul set March 5 for PTCM and ordered the accused to be further remanded.
