Man denies touching three daughters' private parts

KOTA KINABALU: A 41-yearold jobless father claimed trial at the Sessions Court here yesterday after being charged with three counts of touching the private parts of his two daughters and a step-daughter.

The man, who was brought before judge Ainul Shahrin Mohamed, denied the charges under Section 14 (a) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017, which carry a jail term of up to 20 years and also liable to whipping, upon conviction.

On the first charge, he was alleged to have committed the offence against his 14-year-old step-daughter at an unnumbered house in a village in Kota Belud at about 2 pm on March 18.

On the second and third charges, he was alleged to have committed a similar offence towards his two daughters, aged nine and six, at the same place between 3 am and 3 pm sometime last year.

In requesting for bail, the accused informed the court that he wanted to talk to his wife to have the report withdrawn as his mother was sick and his children needed him to send them to school.

However, the prosecution objected to granting of bail to the accused.

The court then fixed August 29 this year for pre-trial case management and ordered the accused to be further detained in custody, pending disposal of the case.

Deputy public prosecutor Umar Faiz prosecuted while the accused was not represented.