MUAR: A college student quivered with fear at the Sessions Court today as soon as he was handed a three-year prison sentence and caning for raping a 13-year-old he befriended on social media.
The accused, Muhammad A'azib Darwish Rosli, 19, who faced three charges of raping the minor, pleaded guilty as soon as all three charges were read before Judge Abu Bakar Manat.
Before delivering the sentence, Abu Bakar asked Muhammad A'azib whether he was aware that he would be receiving a heavy punishment for the offence, causing the latter to tremble with fear.
According to the first and second charges, Muhammad A'azib was accused of committing the act in a mosque in the district, at 3pm, on March 5.
For the third charge, he was accused of repeating the same act in a shed at 5.30pm, on April 20.
He was charged with the offences under Section 376 (1) of the Penal Code, punishable with imprisonment of up to 20 years, and whipping, for each charge.
Based on the facts of the case, the accused, who had just entered college a month ago, befriended the victim through an app on social media.
The accused then started communicating with the victim before they decided to go out together.
On April 26, the victim's mother questioned the victim after she found out that the victim had not returned home.
The victim was taken to the Sultanah Fatimah Specialist Hospital in Muar. An examination found evidence that she had been raped.
Deputy public prosecutor Danial Munir prosecuted, while the accused was unrepresented.
The court then sentenced Muhammad A'azib to three years in prison, and one stroke of the rotan, for each charge.
At the same time, the court decided that all prison sentences would run concurrently from the date of arrest.
