27-year-old Petra Jaya labourer gets jail, caning for sexually assaulting underage girl

KUCHING (Sept 10): The Sessions Court here today sentenced a labourer to a total of 10 years in prison and four strokes of the cane after he pleaded guilty to two charges of sexual assault against a 14-year-old girl.

Judge Saiful Bahari Adzmi meted out the sentence against Zakaria Hamdin, 27, after he made the plea to both charges framed under Section 14(a) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017 and punishable under Section 14 of the same Act.

The indictment provides for an imprisonment term not exceeding 20 years and caning upon conviction.

The court sentenced him to five years’ jail and two strokes for each charge, and ordered for the sentences to run consecutively.

Zakaria committed the offences in Petra Jaya here on Aug 27 and 31.

Based on the facts of the case, on Sept 1, the victim’s mother received a text message from Zakaria, informing her that he had been intimate with her daughter, who is 14 years old.

The victim’s mother immediately lodged a police report that led to Zakaria’s arrest on Sept 4.

The investigation found that on Aug 27, the victim left her house, met with Zakaria, and drank ketum until she was intoxicated.

She only recalled Zakaria kissing her and touching her breasts.

On Aug 31, after drinking alcohol with Zakaria until she was drunk, the victim woke up the next day to find hickeys on her breasts.

Zakaria admitted that he did not rape the victim but only sexually assaulted her.

He also tested positive for amphetamine and methamphetamine abuse during the investigation.

Deputy public prosecutor Norshafatihah Nor Azmi prosecuted the case while Zakaria was unrepresented by legal counsel.