Man gets 22 years jail for abusing his children

TAWAU: A plantation worker was sentenced to 22 years in jail by the Sessions Court here today, after he pleaded guilty to two charges of abusing his two children last month.

Judge Awang Kerisnada Awang Mahmud ordered the accused Nasir Basir, 26, an Indonesian national, to serve 11 years in prison for each charge, with the jail sentences to run consecutively, starting today.

Nasir was charged with exposing his five-year-old daughter to the possibility of physical injuries as well as the effects of emotional trauma at a workers house in Ladang Giram, Ulu Balung Division, Jalan Tawau-Kunak at 3 pm, on March 13.

For the second charge, the accused was charged with committing a similar offence against his three-year-old son at the same place, time and date.

The accused was charged under Section 31 (1) (a) of the Child Act 2001 which provides for a maximum fine of RM50,000 or imprisonment for a maximum of 20 years, or both, upon conviction.

Nasir, who was not represented, appealed to the court to reduce the sentence because at the time of the incident he felt depressed due to marital problems, apart from having to look after his two young children after his wife ran away.

However, Deputy public prosecutor Kershanathan Pathmanathan pressed the court to impose a just sentence as the offence committed by the accused was serious.

Media previously reported that two young siblings were abused by being trampled on several times and threatened with a sharp weapon by their father, and the incident was deliberately recorded by the accused through two video recordings using a mobile phone, lasting 26 and 16 seconds, which were later shared and went viral on social media on April 14.

-- BERNAMA