13 years, six lashes for bid to rape varsity student

Arshad

KOTA KINABALU: A security personnel at a university here was sentenced to 13 years in jail and six strokes of the cane for attempting to rape a university student, two years ago.

Sessions Court judge Elsie Primus meted out the sentence to Arshad Masdin, 28, after finding him guilty in a full trial when the case came up for decision yesterday.

Arshad, who worked in the security division of the university here, was found guilty of an attempt to rape the 18-year-old girl by forcefully taking off her clothes in a dormitory at the university at 12.30am on July 15, 2018.

He committed an offence under Section 376(2)(a) of the Penal Code read together under Section 511 of the same Code, which carries a jail term of up to 15 years, and also liable to whipping, upon conviction.

Arshad had claimed trial to the charge on July 25, 2018 and the prosecution had called 22 witnesses to testify against him in his trial while three witnesses were produced in the defence stage.

In mitigation, the accused who was represented by counsel Shahlan Jufri pleaded for leniency on the grounds that it was his first offence and he had to look after his parents and three children.

Deputy public prosecutor (DPP) Rustam Sanip pressed for a deterrent sentence, saying it was necessary to deter, rehabilitate and punish the accused in accordance with the principle of sentencing.

He also highlighted aggravating factors in the case, in which the victim, who was a matriculation student at the university, had to quit her study and returned to her hometown in Peninsular Malaysia.

Rustam said the victim was traumatized by the incident, felt humiliated and broken down, which affected her psychologically, emotionally and socially.

He further submitted that the attempted rape was committed by the accused in a forceful and aggressive manner.

The evidence before the court revealed that the victim had been punched and hit on several parts of her body, which caused injury to the victim.

The victim had also been tied on both her arms and legs, which caused her unable to move during the attempt rape.

In a victim impact statement tendered by Rustam, the victim had read her impact statement through camera and said among others that the incident had affected and changed her life and now she feels afraid of the dark and looks of men.

Therefore, Rustam urged the court to impose a deterrent sentence against the accused.

Meanwhile, counsel Shahlan also requested a stay of execution pending an appeal at the High Court with reasons that the accused and his family were facing floods in Kota Belud and the accused’s parents would face difficulties in handling the flood if the victim went to jail.

Rustam objected to the application on the grounds that the accused did not show any special circumstances and the offence was a serious offence.

The court rejected the application for a stay of execution except for the sentence of whipping.

Thus, the jail sentence took effect from yesterday and the accused was also ordered to be placed under police supervision for three years after completing the sentence.

Rustam appeared together with DPP Mas Izzaty for the prosecution.

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