Granduncle jailed 13 years, caned for sexual offence against little girl

KOTA KINABALU: A 43-year-old man was sentenced to 13 years' jail plus a stroke of the cane for committing a sexual offence against a three-year-and-11month-old girl.

Sessions Court judge Noor Hafizah Mohd Salim imposed the sentence on the man after he pleaded guilty to the offence yesterday.

The man, who is the granduncle of the victim, had touched the private parts of the girl in a bathroom of a condominium unit in Telipok at 11 am on June 22, this year.

He had committed an offence under Section 14(a) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017, which provides for a jail term of up to 20 years and also liable to whipping, upon conviction.

The facts of the case stated that the accused spent a night at the victim's house on June 21.

The following morning around 11am, the victim's mother was washing dishes in the kitchen when she heard running water in the bathroom and found the bathroom door was locked.

She then heard the victim's crying and saying "No, No. Aw, Aw, Aw" in the bathroom, and when she knocked on the bathroom door, the accused came out from the bathroom while carrying the naked victim.

The accused claimed he wanted to give her (the victim) a bath while handing over the victim to her mother.

The victim cried and said "Oh,

Oh," while pointing her finger towards the accused, who was standing in the living room.

The victim's mother then brought her to a bedroom and asked her "Mana oh, oh? (Where is oh, oh?)” and the victim pointed to her genitals, which the mother checked and it was slightly red in colour.

On the next day, the mother brought the victim to the hospital in Likas for a check-up and it was revealed that there was a fresh tear on the victim's hymen and a mild redness.

In mitigation, the accused, who was not represented, burst into tears and told the court that he realized his mistake and was very remorseful.

He pleaded for leniency and promised not to ever repeat such offence again.

However, deputy public prosecutor Nur Faezah Jafry urged the court to impose a deterrent sentence on the accused to serve as a lesson to the accused as well as to the public at large.

She highlighted that the accused is the grand-uncle of the victim, who should give good examples to the victim and emphasized that the victim suffered a tear due to the incident.

The victim could not even speak as she is only three years old, she added.

The court ordered for the jail sentence to take effect from the date of his (the accused) arrest on June 24.