TAWAU: An Indonesian plantation worker was sentenced to 20 years in prison and eight lashes at the Sessions Court here yesterday for two charges of having s*xual intercourse with his two children.
The 50-year-old man was sentenced after pleading guilty to both charges read before the district High Court Deputy Registrar, Amir Shah Amir Hassan who acted as judge.
Based on the first charge, the accused allegedly committed physical s*xual assault on his 17-year-old daughter by gr0ping her left leg at a worker's house in Ladang Belian, Benta Wawasan, Jalan Luasong, Kalabakan at about 10pm, in August 2020.
For the second charge, the accused allegedly touched the left knee of another of his 15-year-old daughter at the same location at about 11pm in January 2021.
The prosecution against the accused was conducted in accordance with Section 14 (a) of the Sexual Offenses against Children Act 2017 and read together with Section 16 (1) of the same act.
According to Section 14 (a), the accused can be sentenced to imprisonment of up to 20 years and whipping while, Section 16 (1) provides for imprisonment of not more than five years and not less than two lashes.
Based on the facts of the case, the victim's uncle, the complainant, found that the accused is believed to have r*ped and mol*sted one of the victims since 2016.
Following that, the victim's uncle sought the advice of the Consulate of the Republic of Indonesia before reporting the case to the police and the accused was later arrested on January 11.
The accused in his appeal asked the court to commute the sentence against him as he had to support his family and regret the deeds done earlier.
The judge explained that the accused's offense was heavy and serious. After taking into account the public interest and the emotional trauma suffered by the victims as his biological children, the accused was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment and four lashes for each charge carried out separately.
The accused will be referred to the Malaysian Immigration Department for deportation after serving his sentence.
The case was handled by Deputy Public Prosecutor Suhaimi Suriana and the accused was represented by National Legal Aid Foundation (YBGK) lawyer Jhassary Kang.
