12 years' jail & 2 whipping for raping underage girl

The Sessions Court here, Monday, sentenced a former restaurant manager to 12 years' jail and two strokes of the cane for raping an underage girl before marrying her. Judge Ummu Khaltom Abd Samad also ordered Riduan Masmud, 40, to be placed under police supervision for a year after serving the sentence. However, she allowed an application by the father of four children for a stay of execution pending an appeal to be filed at the High Court within 14 days and set bail at RM15,000 in two sureties. Riduan was found guilty of raping the girl, then about 12 years-old, in a car by a roadside near the Kionsom Waterfall in Inanam between 9am and 10am on Feb 18 last year. On May 20 last year, Riduan told the court that he had married the girl. Nevertheless, on June 6, the Attorney-General's Chambers said it would go ahead and prosecute Riduan for the offence. In mitigation, lawyer Ram Singh, representing Riduan, said there was no element of force or violence involved and that his client had married the girl. He said Riduan also had three corruption charges at the Kota Kinabalu Special Corruption Court for allegedly bribing the girl's father. Deputy public prosecutor Raja Zaizul Faridah Raja Zaharuddin said Riduan could not use his marriage to the girl as an excuse to escape from the rape case, adding that as a result of the incident, the girl had to stop school and become a young housewife. Counsel Mary Lee held a watching brief for Kumpulan Daya Tindakan Wanita Sabah (SAWO), Women's Centre for Change, Penang; Sisters in Islam and Mama Anne of Bukit Harapan, and counsel Mary Florence Gomez, for Persatuan Undang-undang Sabah and Suara Kanak-kanak Malaysia.