A 34-year-old welder has been sentenced to six years in prison and two strokes of the rotan after pleading guilty to raping a Form Two student in a forested area in Tangkak last month.
Herwan Abdul Rani entered his guilty plea when the charge was read out before Sessions Court judge Emelia Kaswati Mohamad Khalid.
The court also ordered him to remain under police supervision for one year after completing his prison sentence.
Herwan was charged with raping the underage girl in a forested area near Taman Kesang Bayu, Tangkak, between midnight and 1.30am on October 23.
The offence was charged under Section 376(1) of the Penal Code, which carries a prison sentence of up to 20 years and whipping upon conviction.
The case came to light after the victim’s mother lodged a police report, claiming her daughter had been raped by a man known to her.
Investigations found that the girl and Herwan had known each other for approximately one month.
On the night of the incident, the girl reportedly told her mother that she was going out to attend a silat lesson near their home.
However, her mother later woke up to discover that her daughter was missing and sought police assistance to locate her.
The girl was eventually found emerging from a forested area near an oil palm plantation.
When questioned by her mother, she disclosed that she had been raped.
