Cancer patient gets jail, whipping for unnatural sex offence

KUALA LUMPUR: A salesman suffering from stage four lymphoma cancer was sentenced to eight years' jail and six strokes of the cane by the Ampang Sessions Court here after pleading guilty to three counts of committing unnatural sex with his female cousin last year.
Judge Azrul Darus sentenced the 21-year-old youth to eight year's' in jail as well as one to three strokes of the cane for each of the three counts of committing unnatural sex.
The judge also ordered for the accused to serve the sentence concurrently from today.
For the first and second count, he was charged with intentionally performing unnatural sex forcefully on a six-year-old girl in the room of an apartment in Ampang around 6am in August 2017. The charge under Section 377C of the Penal Code carries a maximum jail term of 20 years and whipping and Section 377CA of the same Code provides a maximum jail term of 30 years with whipping, upon conviction.
For the third count, the accused is charged with committing physical sexual habits on the same victim at the same place, time and date. The charge under Section 14(a) of the Sexual Offences against Children Act 2017 provides a maximum jail sentence of 20 years with whipping, if convicted.
The accused who was unrepresented was repentant of his actions and pleaded for a lighter sentence on the grounds that he was undergoing cancer treatment and the breadwinner of his family. However, Deputy public prosecutors Goh Ai Rene and Norhashimah Hashim urged for an appropriate sentence due to the seriousness of the offences. — Bernama