Court confirms 30-year prison sentence and caning for raping customs officer and trespassing | New Straits Times

KUALA LUMPUR: A 44-year-old former construction worker has been sentenced to 30 years in prison and caned 20 times for raping a customs officer twice after returning home from breaking her fast with her family last year.

Appellant Hassan Ahmad was also sentenced to three years in prison for trespassing at the home of the 39-year-old victim.

In his ruling, Ipoh High Court Judicial Commissioner Moses Susayan dismissed Hassan's appeal and upheld the District Court's decision regarding the sentences, which are to be served consecutively.

In his appeal, Hassan claimed that the penalties imposed were excessive and requested a reduction.

The court sentenced him to twenty years in prison and ten lashes for the first rape, ten years in prison and ten lashes for the second rape, and three years in prison for trespassing. The sentences are all to be served consecutively.

He committed the first offence between 22:00 on 17 April and 01:47 on 18 April last year, the second offence between 05:30 and 06:39 on 18 April last year and the third offence between 22:00 on 17 April and 09:00 on 18 April of the same year.

The crimes occurred in a civil servants' residential area in Ipoh, Perak.

The prosecution argued that the criminal court judge had acted within the law and had adequately taken into account the seriousness of the crimes, the public interest and the mitigating circumstances.

Moses said Hassan had not shown that the district court judge made a fundamental error or imposed a manifestly excessive sentence.

“The penalties are within the legal limits and reflect a proper exercise of judicial discretion,” he said in his ruling uploaded to the judiciary's website.

Moses said the district court judge correctly applied the sentencing principle by ordering consecutive serving of the sentences for the two rape charges due to the seriousness and nature of the crimes.

“Due to the proximity in time between the two crimes, there was a sufficient ‘cooling off period’ to recognize his wrongdoing.

“The second rape was committed with a new intention and independently of the first rape.

“While the victim suffered a second time at the hands of the defendant and thought the nightmare was over, why should the defendant be led to believe that the second rape was part of a single transaction in order to facilitate the concurrent conviction?

“The victim had suffered physical and psychological harm, as described in the victim impact statement (VIS), which required a strict sentencing regime to reflect the seriousness of the defendant's actions and the trauma inflicted on the victim,” he said.

In the VIS, the victim stated that he came home after breakfast and found his house broken into.

She said she was in her master bedroom when she was attacked by an unknown man.

As she resisted, the man pointed a knife at her neck and threatened to kill her if she continued to resist.

She said she managed to stab the man in the left shoulder and then her hands were tied with a cell phone charger cord that was under her bed.

Moses said the victim was innocent and could not have done anything to escape or flee the incident.

“The Court considers that, in these circumstances, the sentence imposed by the District Court Judge is appropriate and proportionate to the gravity of the crime committed by the accused.

“Although the defendant may eventually regain his freedom after serving his sentence, the psychological trauma inflicted on the victim can have lasting effects, with no guarantee of full recovery.”