Kuala lumpur: The Court of Appeal today upheld the 13-year jail sentence and five strokes of caning imposed on a mechanic for raping his underage niece in 2019. A three-judge panel comprising Justices Datuk Azman Abdullah, Datuk Hayatul Akmal Abdul Aziz, and K. Muniandy dismissed the 42-year-old man's final appeal against his conviction and sentence.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, the court also upheld the Sessions Court's order for the appellant to undergo counselling while in prison and be placed under police supervision for two years after completing his prison term. However, the panel set aside the Sessions Court's decision which ordered the man to pay compensation of RM7,000 to the victim under Sections 426 (1) (b) and 426 (2) of the Criminal Procedure Code.

The man, who previously obtained a stay of execution of his sentence and was released on bail pending disposal of his appeal, will begin serving his jail term starting today. In delivering the court's unanimous decision, Justice Muniandy stated that the trial judge did not commit any error in assessing the credibility of the victim, who gave consistent, detailed, and unchallenged testimony, including her ability to identify the perpetrator.

He explained that the victim's delay in lodging a police report was due to threats, fear, and emotional trauma she experienced. Muniandy added that the Sessions Court correctly rejected the appellant's defense of complete denial and that his alibi that he was at a motorcycle workshop was a fabrication and an afterthought not disclosed to the investigating officer when his statement was recorded.

'The sentence of 13 years' imprisonment, five strokes of the cane, the counselling order, and police supervision is lawful, appropriate, and sufficient to reflect the seriousness of the sexual offence against a child,' he said. On December 18, 2024, the Sessions Court found the man guilty of raping the girl, who was then 14 years and seven months old, in a house in the Hulu Langat district, Selangor, at 9 am on Sept 26, 2019.

The Sessions Court had sentenced the man to 13 years in jail and ordered five strokes of caning, along with counselling while in prison, police supervision for two years after completing his prison term, and compensation to the victim. The High Court, on October 30, last year, upheld the Sessions Court's decision, leading the man to appeal to the Court of Appeal.

At the Court of Appeal today, lawyers Ahmad Ishrakh Saad and Kelvinder Singh represented the man, while Deputy Public Prosecutor Ahmad Nazneen Zulkifli appeared for the prosecution.