25-07-2025
Indonesian gets 34 years' in jail, 14 strokes of rotan for sexually abusing brother's teen stepdaughter
KOTA KINABALU: An Indonesian labourer has been sentenced to 34 years' in jail by the Sandakan Sessions Court for molesting and sexually abusing his elder brother's teenage stepdaughter on Friday (July 25).
The 25-year-old pleaded guilty before Sessions Court Judge Zaini Fisher @ Fisal, who also ordered him to be whipped 14 times for committing the offence between July 7 and 9 this year at an unnumbered house at an oil palm plantation quarters in Sandakan.
Zaini also handed down an additional four months' jail on the accused for staying in the state without a valid document, and ordered him to be referred to the Immigration Department for deportation to his country of origin after serving the sentences.
According to the facts of the case, the incident came to light on July 9 when the accused's brother noticed that his 14-year-old stepdaughter was experiencing unusually heavy bleeding.
He also found her clothes in the bathroom stained with a significant amount of blood.
When asked, the teenager said that she had been molested and raped by her uncle since July 7, which prompted the stepfather to take her to the Duchess of Kent Hospital for treatment before lodging a police report.
The medical examiner found tear marks in her private parts, and no external body injuries.
The accused was later arrested at the police station at Ulu Dusun, Jalan Labuk in Sandakan at about 12.30pm on July 11.
He was charged under Section 14 of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017 for committing the crime, which carries a jail sentence of not more than 20 years, and liable to whipping.
Zaini handed down eight years jail on him for the offence.
The accused also admitted to raping his niece twice, the first at 11pm on July 8 and again at 3am on July 9 at the same unnumbered house.
For the second and third offences, he was charged under Section 376 (1) of the Penal Code, which carries a jail sentence of up to 20 years plus whipping.
The court handed down a sentence of 13 years jail and seven whippings for each charge.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Muhammad Azizi Hamil conducted the prosecution, while the accused was unrepresented.
