Farmer suspected of raping step-grandchild found dead

KUCHING: A farmer suspected of raping his 14-year- old stepgranddaughter died at Sri Aman Hospital at 5am yesterday.

A team from the Sri Aman Criminal Investigation Department found the 54-year old, who was wanted by police, in a hut at his paddy field in Sri Aman around 11pm on Thursday (Sept 28).

“The team found the suspect lying on the ground behind the hut, frothing at the mouth. He was in a semi-conscious state and was rushed to the hospital by the team in a police vehicle,” said state CID chief SAC Datuk Dev Kumar in a statement yesterday.

Preliminary investigation by the police and medical staff indicated that the suspect had consumed pesticide.

Dev Kumar said the suspect died before he could be transferred to the Sarawak General Hospital.

The case came to light when the girl was admitted to Sri Aman Hospital with back injuries, after jumping off the first floor of her school hostel on Sept 21.

A medical examination found her to be five weeks pregnant.

The initial police inquiry could not determine what drove her to jump or the identity of the unborn child’s father.

On Wednesday, the victim finally opened up and related her ordeal to a medical social worker, who then lodged a police report at the Sri Aman police station on the alleged rape.

“Subsequent police investigation revealed that the first incident of rape occurred in early August.

The step- grandfather had allegedly picked up the victim from her hostel to bring her home for the weekend.

“Instead of taking her home, he took her to a hut in an oil palm plantation and raped her.

“The second incident occurred about a week later at a longhouse in Sembayang, Sri Aman.

“The victim was raped in the living room while other family members were asleep,” said Dev Kumar.

He added the report by the medical social worker was investigated under Section 376B of the Penal Code, which led the Sri Aman CID team to try to locate and arrest the suspect.

The team found the suspect lying on the ground behind the hut, frothing at the mouth. He was in a semi-conscious state and was rushed to the hospital by the team in a police vehicle. SAC Datuk Dev Kumar, Sarawak CID chief