Earlier in September 2017, a diving coach had allegedly raped a 20-year-old diver on Malaysia’s national team at the National Aquatic Centre in Bukit Jalil. After being reported to the authorities, the accused’s court case began earlier this year on 19th January.
Now, according to the New Straits Times, the coach got discharged from court yesterday (9th April) after prosecution failed to establish a case against him due to insufficient evidence.
Source: fmt
Judge Noradura Hamzah stated in court that the national diving squad coach, 36-year-old Huang, had the charges dropped against him, saying,
“The court finds most of the testimony by the victim is merely presumptuous and when compared with the testimony of other witnesses, namely the victim’s cousin and investigation officer in the case, there were material contradictions.”
“The failure by the prosecution to call other material witnesses and independent witnesses, namely workers who say the accused and the victim at the time of the incident such as workers shows weakness in the prosecution’s case.”
Source: youtube
The judge also pointed out that there was no way to prove that the action was done without the victim’s consent, saying,
“There was no evidence by the victim on the issue of consent as mentioned during the trial.”
“On the issue of the victim not putting up a struggle because of fear cannot be accepted because the victim herself is strong and fit and capable of fighting to avoid the incident.”
Huang was initially charged under Section 376(1) of the Penal Code, which could have landed him in prison for up to 20 years, on top of being whipped, if found guilty.
What do you think of the court’s decision? Let us know in the comments below!
Also read: Young Handsome Man Commits Suicide After Allegedly Being Raped by Male Boss
