Kota Kinabalu: A 25-year-old who raped his sister twice and sentenced to 26 years’ jail and 20 strokes of the cane, told the court that there was a discussion with his family to cover up the rape case, but unsuccessful.
He said this when Sessions Court Judge Hurman Hussain delivered the verdict, Thursday, after he pleaded guilty to two charges.
The accused asked for a light sentence, saying it concerned his future and family shame (aib).
He said the family had discussed to cover up the rape but to no avail. However, it was not clear whether it was the family that tried to cover up on his behalf or he floated the idea to the family and they refused.
The court heard that he was arrested following a police report lodged by the victim herself.
On the first count, he was jailed 13 years and ordered to get 10 strokes of the cane for raping the 14 years and eight months old girl at noon in January 2025 at a room of a house in Ranau.
On the second count, he was sentenced to another 13 years’ jail plus 10 strokes of the cane for raping the same girl between 8pm and 9pm also in the middle of January 2025 in the same house.
The offence under Section 376(3) of the Penal Code carries a jail term of between eight and 30 years, and whipping at least 10 strokes, on conviction.
The court ordered the man to serve sentence, consecutively, from the date of arrest and to undergo rehabilitative counselling while serving sentence.
The accused in his mitigation also asked for the sentence to be served concurrently and not consecutively.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Fazriel Fardiansyah Abdul Kadir urged the court to impose a heavy sentence on the grounds that it was a serious offence.
Fazriel further submitted that the victim was 14 at that time and might suffer long-term psychological trauma.
Apart from the jail and whipping, Fazriel also asked for the accused to be ordered to undergo rehabilitative counselling pursuant to section 26 of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017 (SOACA).
