Man in Kuching jailed 34 years, 24 strokes of cane for sexually assaulting teenage stepdaughter

KUCHING (Feb 3): A 41-year-old man has been sentenced to a total of 34 years’ jail and 24 strokes of the cane by the Sessions Court here today for sexually assaulting his teenage stepdaughter.

Judge Musli Ab Hamid handed down the sentence after the accused was found guilty of two charges under Section 14(a) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017, punishable under Section 14 read together with Section 16(1) of the same Act.

Musli ruled that the prosecution had successfully proven a prima facie case against the accused at the close of the defence case.

The accused received 15 years’ imprisonment and 10 strokes of the cane for each charge under Section 14(a), with an additional two years’ jail and two strokes of the cane for each charge under Section 16(1). All sentences were ordered to run consecutively.

He is also required to undergo rehabilitative counselling during his detention, and a further two years of counselling after his release.

Under the law, Section 14 carries a jail term of up to 20 years and whipping, while Section 16 stipulates that any offender in a position of trust with the child victim can face an additional five years’ imprisonment and at least two strokes of the cane.

In both charges, he was accused of sexually assaulting the by kissing her lips, touching her chest, and touching and licking her private part at a house in Petra Jaya, Jalan Sultan Tengah, in the early morning of December 2022 and at 8am on August 5, 2023, respectively.

According to the facts of the case, the victim, who was only 15 years old at the time, was staying with her mother, her siblings, and the accused, who had been legally married to the victim’s mother since December 17, 2012.

One morning in December 2022, while she was in her bedroom, the accused entered the room, woke her up, and instructed her to follow him to his bedroom, which was next to hers.

Once they were in his room, he locked the door and sexually assaulted her, despite her unwillingness to engage in the immoral act and fear that her mother would find out.

He then threatened her to be silent about the matter.

In April 2023, her teacher was concerned upon seeing her scarred wrist and asked to talk in private.

She disclosed to her teacher that she was under emotional distress because her stepfather had sexually assaulted her.

The teacher advised her to report the matter to her mother, but she refused out of fear that her mother would not believe her.

Then, in August 2023, the accused went into the victim’s room again, and after waking her up, he brought her to his room and sexually assaulted her.

Two days later, her teacher noticed her in emotional distress again. Upon finding out that the victim was sexually assaulted by the stepfather again, the teacher contacted the victim’s mother for a meeting to inform her of the matter in the victim’s presence

However, the mother was in disbelief and afterwards questioned the victim at home. The accused was also confronted but denied all allegations made against him.

Following the confrontation the victim was asked to leave the house by the accused and she then sought refuge at her grandmother’s house. During that time, she told her aunt that she was sent to live with her grandparents because her mother could not afford to pay her school fee.

But finding the reason was unusual and unconvincing, she further questioned the victim and discovered that she had been sexually assaulted by her stepfather.

The aunt immediately brought the victim to the Sarawak General Hospital for medical examination and subsequently lodged a police report which led to the accused’s arrest.

Deputy public prosecutor Asmawi Nur Haqim Mokhtar appeared for the prosecution, while the accused was represented by lawyer Arthur Liang Dawat.