PASIR MAS: A gardener has been charged at a Sessions Court here with five counts of raping and committing sexual crimes against his stepdaughter.
The 58-year-old man claimed trial to all the charges after they were read out to him before judge Badrul Munir Mohd Hamdy.
For the first count, he was charged with committing sexual crimes against his stepdaughter, who was 12 at that time, at a house in Tanah Merah at 11pm in December 2018.
The offence was framed under Section 14(a) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017, which is punishable under Section 14 of the same Act with a jail term of up to 20 years and whipping.
The charge was read together with Section 16 of the same Act which states that if a person who commits the crime is in a relationship of trust with the child, he shall be punished with imprisonment of up to five years and whipping of not less than two strokes of the cane in addition to the penalty for the offence itself.
For the second to fifth counts, the man was accused of raping the girl at the same place at 11pm, 8pm and 2pm between January 2019 and May 12 last year.
The charge under Section 376 (3) of the Penal Code carries a jail term of up to 30 years and whipping.
Bail was not allowed after deputy public prosecutor Hajarul Falenna Itah Abu Bakar told the court that the accused was staying in the same house with the stepdaughter.
The court fixed July 18 for mention.
Meanwhile in Serdang, a babysitter pleaded not guilty at a Sessions Court to a charge of abusing a 20-month-old girl at a childcare centre in Hospital Serdang early this month.
Nur Fatin Nabila Azmi, 23, claimed trial after the charge was read before Judge Noor Hisham Ahmad Jaafar.
She was charged with intentionally causing physical injury to the girl at the centre in the hospital’s staff residence in Jalan Puchong, Kajang, at about 10.30 am, on June 8.
The charge was framed under Section 31(1)(a) of the Child Act 2001, which provides a fine of up to RM50,000 or imprisonment of up to 20 years or both.
Deputy public prosecutor Aiza Ali Raman offered bail at RM15,000 with one surety with the conditions that Nur Fatin must report to the nearest police station every month and not harass the girl.
The court allowed the bail to be reduced to RM10,000 after taking into account that Nur Fatin has to take care of her ailing parents.
The court fixed July 26 for mention.-The Star