KUALA LUMPUR: A man’s three-year prison term was upheld by the Court of Appeal after he was convicted of three offenses, including raping a female schoolmate, seven years ago.
The accused and victim were both 15 at the time of the offence.
According to the New Straits Times, the Court of Appeal’s three-judge panel, led by Justice Datuk Hadhariah Syed Ismail and including Justices Datuk Azman Abdullah and Datuk Azmi Ariffin, reached a unanimous verdict.
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“On the conviction, we (the bench) found that there was evidence that supported the finding of wrongdoing by the High Court.”
“We found no basis to challenge the High Court’s verdict on punishment, thus the accused’s appeal against his conviction and sentence was dismissed.”
“The High Court’s finding of wrongdoing and order of imprisonment is upheld,“ he added.
Additionally, Justice Azmi stated in the reasons of judgment dated April 19, which was published on the judiciary’s website.
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The indictment claimed that on July 19, 2017, at 3 pm, the male raped the girl and used criminal intimidation against her in an Ampang apartment unit.
Azmi added that the appellant claimed he was not there at the time and location of the occurrence, but no notice of alibi was provided.
“The appellant had just stated that he was at his sister’s house at 2.30pm on that particular day when he was questioned by the prosecution.”
“Therefore, it is already very clear that the evidence of this appellant is a lie, plain denial and an afterthought which did not raise reasonable doubt in the prosecution’s case,“ the judge concluded.
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