SANDAKAN – A 39-year-old Indonesian oil palm plantation worker has been sentenced to 15 years in prison and ten lashes for raping his stepdaughter over a period of four years, starting from when she was 11 years old.
Judge Zaini Fishir @ Fisal handed down the sentence today at the session’s court after the accused pleaded guilty to charges under Section 376(3) of the Penal Code.
According to the facts of the case, the victim’s relative filed a police report on May 29, 2024, stating that the 14-year-old victim had been sexually assaulted by the accused multiple times since she was 11.
The victim, an undocumented Indonesian, disclosed the abuse to her relative the night before the report was made.
The police arrested the accused the same day at a worker’s quarters in an oil palm plantation near Mile 278.
Investigations revealed that the most recent assault occurred on May 5, 2024, while the victim and the accused were collecting oil palm fruit.
The accused had threatened to kill the victim’s mother and siblings if she reported the abuse.
During an interrogation, the accused confessed to the crime.
Section 376 (3) of the Penal Code addresses the offense of raping a woman whom the perpetrator is legally, religiously, customarily, or traditionally forbidden to marry. Conviction results in a prison sentence ranging from eight to thirty years and a minimum of ten strokes of whipping.
Deputy public prosecutor Bryan Francis prosecuted the case, while the accused was not represented.
The accused will be referred to the Immigration Department after he is released from prison. – June 12, 2024