A 52-year-old mother has been sentenced to five years in prison for allowing her teenage daughter to be sexually abused by her 77-year-old grand-uncle and failing to report the incident to police despite knowing about it.
The Sessions Court handed down the sentence after the woman pleaded guilty to an offence under Section 31(1)(b) of the Child Act 2001.
Judge Noorhisham Mohd Jaafar ordered the jail term to take effect from the date of her arrest on October 21 this year.
She was also ordered to undergo rehabilitative counselling throughout her imprisonment under Section 26(1) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act (SOACA) 2017.
In addition, the court placed her under police supervision for two years after her release under Section 27(1) of the same Act.
According to the charge, the woman had allowed her daughter to be sexually abused at a house in Padawan on October 11 this year.
The incident happened when the 77-year-old grand-uncle visited the house to collect fertiliser and asked the teenager to help him.
The girl was home alone when the man allegedly groped her breasts and private parts before kissing her on the mouth. She tried to push him away but could not stop him.
He also allegedly told her to keep the incident secret.
The following day, the girl went to school as usual, but a friend noticed that she was crying and informed the school counsellor.
The counsellor then contacted her parents and arranged a meeting to discuss what had happened.
However, the parents decided not to lodge a police report after discussing the matter, reportedly because they did not want to pursue the case as it involved a family member and feared being blamed by other relatives.
In a separate proceeding before the same judge, the girl’s grand-uncle pleaded not guilty to physically sexually assaulting her.
He was charged under Section 14(a) of SOACA 2017, read together with Section 16(1) of the same Act. The court denied him bail and fixed December 11 for case management.
Meanwhile, the girl’s father was also charged under Section 31(1)(b) of the Child Act 2001 in connection with the same incident. He pleaded not guilty before Sessions Court Judge Musli Ab Hamid.
The court also denied him bail and scheduled December 14 for case management.
The victim is expected to be referred to Sarawak General Hospital for a medical examination and to the Protector at the Kuching Welfare Department for assessment.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Muhammad Afiq Safly Nor Kazly prosecuted all three cases, while none of the three individuals was represented by a lawyer.
