KUCHING: The Sessions’ Court here sentenced a local man to seven years in jail and two strokes of the cane for physically sexually assaulting his underage neighbour in May last year.
Judge Hakim Mohd Taufik Mohd @ Mohd Yusoff sentenced the 27-year-old accused after he was found guilty at the end of the trial today (Nov 8).
According to the charges, he allegedly sat on the 13-year-old victim’s body, hugged her and kissed her cheek while she was asleep.
He committed the act at the victim’s residence in Jalan Foo Chow around 2am on May 13 last year.
Therefore, the accused was charged in accordance with Section 14(a) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017, read together with Section 16 of the same Act, which carries a jail term of up to 20 years and can whipping, if convicted.
According to the facts of the case, the victim lodged a police report because the accused had physically assaulted her by sitting on her, hugging her body and kissed her on the cheek while she was sleeping in the room with her sister.
However, his sister did not notice the accused’s actions as she was fast asleep.
A total of three witnesses have been called to the stand to testify in the case.
Deputy public prosecutor Danial Mohammad Ali requested that the court impose a heavy sentence on the accused, taking into account the seriousness of the offence, the maturity of the accused to distinguish between right and wrong, as well as sexual offences which are often reported by the media involving minor victims.
