Guard hopes daughter who married her rapist can move on

KULIM: A security guard is hoping his daughter, who married her alleged rapist when she was 12 and divorced him a year later, will be able to find a good and mature husband to look after her.

Mohd Saad Mustafa, 48, said his daughter, now 17, works as a shop assistant in Baling, about 50km from here.

“All she wishes for is to leave the bad memories behind and start a new life,” he said in an interview at his home in Kampung Padang Cina here.

He said his daughter gave birth to a baby girl after marrying Mohd Fahmi Mohamed Alias in November 2012. The child is now almost four years old.

“The girl is growing up to be smart and witty and is being cared for by my daughter’s former mother-in-law when she goes to work,” Mohd Saad said.

He said there was conflict in the past with her daughter’s in-laws, which led to the divorce in November 2013, but both families have since reconciled.

He admitted that the incident left a deep scar in his heart and hoped it would be a les- son to all.

“When our children are ‘ young and dangerous’, we should always keep a watchful eye on them,” Mohd Saad said.

He said he would not have allowed his daughter to marry Mohd Fahmi, who was 19 then, if not for the alleged rape.

“They did not get along after their marriage,” he added.

In July 2012, his daughter lodged a report alleging that she had been raped by two teenagers, including Mohd Fahmi, and a twist in the tale ensued.

Mohd Saad then said his daughter later told him that nothing had happened as she had spent the day with Mohd Fahmi before he sent her over to a relative’s house.

She married Mohd Fahmi in November 2012 after the Syariah Court in Kulim consented to the marriage, four months after the alleged rape. They divorced a year later.

It was reported that Mohd Fahmi was jointly charged with another youth before he married the girl but was given a discharge not amounting to an acquittal after the girl and her father withdrew the police report.

The other youth pleaded guilty and was sent to a juvenile rehabilitation centre in Paya Terubong, Penang.