KUCHING, May 11 ― The Sarawak Women for Women Society (SWWS) has urged the Attorney-General's Chambers to appeal the acquittal of a 60-year-old man over four counts of child rape last Thursday.
SWWS president Margaret Bedus said it was clear that the victim, who was a minor then, had been sexually abused and bore a son fathered by the accused Bunya Jalong, 60, based on the DNA tests.
“The girl was 15 years and four months when she was sexually abused,” she said in a statement to the Borneo Post.
“Under the definition of sexual abuse in the Child Act 2001 Sect 17 (2)(ii), the action of the man was clearly an act of sexual abuse. It is also widely known that under the Penal Code, sexual intercourse with a child under 16 is statutory rape,” she added.
Saying that the acquittal may set a dangerous precedent if is allowed to stand, she said it will make it more difficult to bring such cases to court in future.
“It appears our legal system at the highest level still does not understand the well researched dynamics surrounding child sexual abuse, including how fear and confusion affect the child’s behaviour and testimony, the impact of grooming and the inappropriateness of the concept of consent when an adult is conducting sexual activities with a minor,” she said.
On Thursday, a three-man panel at the Court of Appeal comprising Datuk Abdul Wahab Patail, Datuk Linton Albert and Datuk Seri Zakaria Sam decided unanimously to acquit and discharge Bunya.
The court reasoned that it was unsafe to convict him of the charges.
The accused was charged with raping the victim sometime in May, June, July and August 2011 at a hotel in Sibu.
The girl gave birth to a boy on February 5, 2012.
Bunya had earlier been sentenced by the Sessions Court to 15 years' imprisonment and ordered to be whipped five times for the first charge and nine years' imprisonment and two whippings for each of the other three charges.
This had been reduced on appeal to jail of eight years for the first charge, three years for the second, and two years for the third and fourth charges.
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