A 52-year-old Kuching man has received a reduced jail sentence from 115 years to 45 years, for raping and molesting his daughter. The judge panels, Datuk Yaacob Md Sam, Datuk Lee Swee Seng and Datuk Supang Lian accepted the appeal to cut down on the jail sentence without any opposition but held onto the sentence of 20 lashes, reported by Dayak Daily.
The man was charged in four cases with six charges in total. The jail terms are set to five years, 10 years, 15 years and 15 years where they will be carried out concurrently.
The daughter was only 12 years old when she was raped for the first time back in 2014, in a small hut located in an oil-palm plantation, Kabong. The sexual assault continued in many places like a hotel in Sarotok and a bedroom in their Kabong village until she reached the age of 15. It was stated in The Borneo Post that the victim was also raped in a car park at the roadside in Kampung Sebuyao, and in a house toilet the same year (2017).
Though the accused pleaded guilty to all five rape charges in September 2017, he was imposed with a total of 22 years of imprisonment and four cane slashes per charge under the Section 376B (1) of the Penal Code for raping. As ordered by the Sessions Court to proceed with the sentences concurrently, another jail sentence of five years was put on him under Section 354 of the Penal Code for molestation.
The High Court decided to impose successive charges after appealed by the prosecution, causing the man to face up to 112 years of jail imprisonment in total.
However, Simon Siah, a lawyer from the National Legal Aid Foundation (YBGK), represented the accused and appealed for the previous jail sentences to be conducted simultaneously due to the age factor of the man.
“Based on the percentage and statistics, the average life expectancy of men in the country is about 70 years. The accused is now 52 and may not live long enough to serve the sentence.” – Simon Siah.
What do you think of this situation? Do you think age is a factor for people to escape away from the punishments they’re supposed to get?
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