Youth charged with raping lover to know fate today

KOTA KINABALU: A youth will know his fate at the Sessions Court here today for raping a teenage lover three years ago.

Mohd Azhar Jeminos, 23, decided to plead guilty yesterday before judge Azreena Aziz to raping the 15-year-old girl at a hut at a village in Tuaran in early March 2015.

In pleading for a lenient sentence, counsel Azhier Farhan Arisin, who represented the accused, submitted that his client had requested for a bond of good behavior to be imposed on him as he was not well after being involved in a road accident last year.

The counsel said the accused was brought to court with the assistance of other persons as he was suffering from paralysis due to the accident.

In reply, the prosecution pressed for a deterrent sentence to be given to the accused as he had pleaded guilty to the charge at the final stage of the trial.

The prosecution argued that the accused’s current situation did not justify him to get a bond of good behavior as he had committed a serious offence and the sentence imposed must strike a balance on the interest of the public in general.

In a separate case, six people, including three women, were jailed between four and five months by the same court for entering the state illegally.

All the accused persons had pleaded guilty to their charges under Section 6 (1) (c) of the Immigration Act and to be referred to the Immigration Department after serving their jail terms for further action.