PUTRAJAYA, Oct 17 — A lorry driver was sentenced to 20 years in jail and ordered to be given 20 strokes of the rotan after losing the appeal to set aside his conviction on two counts of raping his sister-in-law.

A Court of Appeal panel comprising Justices Datuk Seri Kamaludin Md Said, Datuk Nordin Hassan and Datuk Hashim Hamzah dismissed the man’s appeal against his conviction after finding that his appeal had no merit.

However, the court allowed the 33-year-old man’s appeal to reduce his imprisonment term from 15 years to 10 years in jail for each count.

In delivering the court’s decision, Justice Kamaludin, who led the panel, sentenced the man to 10 years imprisonment and 10 strokes of the rotan for each count and ordered him to serve the sentences consecutively which means he has to serve 20 years in jail.

The accused was found guilty and sentenced to a total of 30 years imprisonment and 20 strokes of the rotan by the Sessions Court on July 3, 2019 for raping the 14-year-old girl on two occasions in a house in Pasir Puteh, Kelantan in February 2018 and April 19, 2018.

The Sessions Court had sentenced him to 15 years in jail and 10 strokes of the rotan for each count and ordered him to serve the sentences consecutively.

He was charged under Section 376 (3) of the Penal Code which provides that whoever commits rape on a woman whose relationship to him is such that he is not permitted under the law, religion, custom or usage, to marry her, would be punished with an imprisonment term not less than eight years and not more than 30 years, and shall be punished with whipping of not less than 10 strokes, if found guilty.

The accused lost his appeal at the High Court which was dismissed on November 23, last year.

According the evidence adduced by the prosecution, the man was the husband to the victim’s sister and the couple divorced six years later when a police report was lodged after the rape incident.

In his defence, he said that he met the victim on the two dates but denied raping her.

He was represented by lawyers Datuk Geethan Ram Vincent and Eu Kah Mun while deputy public prosecutor Mohd Fairuz Johari appeared for the prosecution. — Bernama