MUAR: A man who was on the run for four months before being arrested was today charged with raping, sodomising and molesting his 15-year-old stepdaughter last year.
The 59-year-old, however, claimed trial to the three offences as soon as the charges were read before Sessions Court judge Irwan Suainbon.
According to the charge sheet, the man was accused of raping his stepdaughter at her grandmother's house in Bukit Kepong about 4.30pm on Nov 15 last year.
The charge was framed under Section 376(3) of the Penal Code which carries a prison term of not more than 20 years and at least 10 strokes of the cane upon conviction.
The second charge for sodomy was framed under Section 377C of the Penal Code, which allows for a prison term of up to 20 years, and caning.
The man was also charged under Section 14(a) of the Sexual Crimes Against Children Act 2017, read together with Section 16 of the same, for which he is also liable to 20 years in prison and caning and seven years and at least two strokes of the cane, respectively.
All three offences were alleged to have taken place at the same time and place.
Based on a police report against the man, he was said to have gone on the run after committing the offences.
He was finally tracked down by police and arrested at the home of a relative in Kesang in Tangkak at 11pm last Wednesday.
Deputy public prosecutor Nur Sulehan Abd Rahman did not offer bail, saying that the accused had not cooperated at all with police.
Irwan then ordered that the accused, who was unrepresented, be held at the Muar correctional centre to await remention of the case on March 27, when all documents are to be submitted.
