Court throws man behind bars for sexual assault

KUCHING: A local man who begged for forgiveness
will spend the next six years and four months in prison for sexually assaulting his grandniece in August.

The Sessions Court on Wednesday (Sept 4) also ordered him to get four lashes of the cane for his crime.

The 48-year-old pleaded guilty to one charge before Judge Iris Awen Jon.

He committed the offence against a six-year-old girl in a village in Bau, around 5pm, on Aug 21 after which he bought her ice cream.

He stood charged under Section 14 (a) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017 read together with Section 16 (1) of the same Act.

Section 14 (a) provides for imprisonment of up to 20 years and also caning while Section 16 (1) carries a prison penalty of up to five years and also a minimum two strokes of the cane for each charge, if convicted.

The court ordered him to serve a prison sentence effective Wednesday.

In addition, he was also ordered to undergo counselling and police supervision for three years after serving his sentence.

The prosecution was handled by Deputy Public Prosecutor Mohammad Fauzan Zamri while the accused was not represented by a lawyer.