A 29-year-old man was sentenced to 18 years in prison and 20 strokes of the cane on Monday after pleading guilty to two counts of raping his younger sister when she was 13 years old, the Sessions Court in Tanah Merah, Kelantan ruled.
The unemployed divorcee entered guilty pleas to both charges and admitted to all facts read before Judge Zulkipli Abdullah. He was unrepresented by counsel.
According to the facts of the case, the first assault occurred around December last year at approximately 10 a.m. at a house in Tanah Merah, when the victim was 13 years old. On that occasion, the attack took place while the girl had stayed home from school due to illness. The second offence was committed on May 4 at 12:45 a.m. at the same location, when the victim was 13 years and five months old.
Both charges were brought under Section 376(3) of the Penal Code, which carries a sentence of eight to 30 years imprisonment and a minimum of 10 strokes of the cane upon conviction.
In her submissions, Deputy Public Prosecutor Siti Aiysha Na’ilah Harizan urged the court to impose a sentence that would serve as a genuine deterrent to both the accused and the wider public.
“I ask the court to also take note that nearly every day, this court handles sexual crime cases involving child victims,” she said. “This case is especially serious because the accused is the victim’s own brother — someone who should have been her protector — yet committed this despicable act against a teenager.”
The court, in addition to the custodial sentence and caning, ordered the convict to undergo rehabilitative counselling throughout his imprisonment and to remain under police supervision for two years upon release.
The accused, one of 11 siblings, requested placement at Bentong Prison, where he had previously served time on a drug-related offence. It was not immediately clear whether the court granted that request.
Prosecution was handled by DPP Siti Aiysha Na’ilah Harizan.
