Indonesian jailed 10 years for sex with underage girl

KOTA KINABALU: A 23-year-old Indonesian man was sentenced to 10 years in jail by the Sessions Court here yesterday for raping his underage girlfriend.

Judge Azreena Aziz imposed the sentence on Habel Danel after he pleaded guilty to the charge.

He raped the 12 years and three months old girl at an unnumbered house in a village in Lok Kawi, Putatan at 5am on March 30.

The offence under Section 375(g) of the Penal Code, punishable under Section 376(1) of the same Code, carries a jail term of up to 20 years and whipping, upon conviction.

Based on the facts of the case, the accused had entered the victim's bedroom while she was sleeping and had sex with her.

The victim's father found out about the incident and lodged a police report at 12.30pm on the same day.

Habel, who was not represented, pleaded for leniency as he claimed the sexual intercourse was consensual.

Meanwhile, deputy public prosecutor (DPP) Nureen Natasha Mohd Raffie urged the court to impose a deterrent sentence on the accused as the offence is serious and rampant.

She said the victim, who was just 12 years old, did not understand the act committed by the accused.

The court ordered the accused to serve his jail term from the date of his arrest and to be referred to the Immigration Department, upon completion of the custodial sentence.

In an unrelated case, a 53-yearold man was called to enter his defence on September 17 this year against a charge of raping his girlfriend's daughter.

Sessions Court judge Marlina Ibrahim made the order on the man after she ruled that the prosecution had successfully established a prima facie case against the accused on the said charge.

The man was alleged to have raped the 11 years and five months old girl at a house in a village of Kota Marudu at 8.30am on July 29, 2017. In his trial at the prosecution stage, 12 witnesses were produced to testify against him.

DPP Siti Amirah Muhammad Ali acted for the prosecution.