Selangor: The Court of Appeal today upheld a 15-year prison term and three strokes of the cane imposed on a former police officer for committing incest with his sister-in-law. A three-judge panel, chaired by Justice Datuk Azman Abdullah, along with Datuk Mohamed Zaini Mazlan and Datuk Noorin Badaruddin, dismissed the 32-year-old appellant's challenge to his conviction and sentence.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, Justice Azman, delivering the court's unanimous judgment, stated that the Sessions Court had committed no error of law or fact. He emphasized that the victim, identified as SP1 in the proceedings, was a young woman residing in the home of the appellant and her sister, where the appellant was her brother-in-law. Justice Azman further added that the sentence imposed by the Sessions Court, and later upheld by the High Court, was appropriate given the severity of the appellant's actions, which had irrevocably affected his sister-in-law's future.

The incident occurred on March 23, 2020, at an apartment in Selangor during the COVID-19 Movement Control Order. The victim, then a 19-year-old college student, was forced to leave her dormitory and was taken in by her elder sister, who lived with the appellant, her newly married husband. The appellant was charged under Section 376A of the Penal Code, punishable under Section 376B(1), which allows for up to 30 years' imprisonment and caning.

On August 28, 2023, the Sessions Court convicted the appellant and sentenced him to 15 years in prison along with three strokes of the cane. His appeal to the High Court was dismissed on November 26 of the previous year, prompting him to file a further appeal to the Court of Appeal. At the hearing, deputy public prosecutor Shamala Jaganathan represented the prosecution, while counsel Shaharuddin Mohamed defended the appellant.