KUCHING: A 19-year-old teenager was sent to the Henry Gurney School in Puncak Borneo here for raping his underage girlfriend.
Sessions Court judge Jason Juga made the decision after taking into account the accused’s social report issued by the Social Welfare Department (JKM).
The teen would remain at Henry Gurney until he reached the age of 21.
Based on the facts of the case, he was accused of raping his 17-year-old girlfriend in a house at Kampung Sungai Berdaun, Jalan Sultan Tengah here on Sept 8, 2019.
Following that, he was charged under Section 376 (1) of Act 574 of the Penal Code which provides for imprisonment not exceeding 20 years and whipping.
According to the social report by JKM officer Efa Erni Bujang Adris, the accused was immature due to his age, and acted without thinking about the consequences.
“The incident happened not by force, but he did not realise that having sex with a minor is a serious crime.
“He does not have any previous criminal record. He also promised to not repeat his mistake and requested to be given a second chance to change and atone for what he did,” Efa explained.
As the accused is no longer in school and has worked and taken into account the incident happened on the basis of mutual love, JKM viewed that his morals could be reformed.
“As a lesson to the accused to change for the sake of his future, then he needs to be helped with self-discipline education to form a better direction in life.
“Therefore, I recommend the accused to be detained at Henry Gurney School, Puncak Borneo, Kuching until he is 21 years old, according to the provisions of Section 293 (1) (d),” she said.
