IPOH: Two men were sentenced to six years’ jail and three strokes of the cane each after pleading guilty to raping the same underage girl in Perak Tengah in two separate incidents.
Mohd Airul Abu Talib, 28, and Muhammad Asri Mohd Hussin, 25, who were charged separately under Section 376(1) of the Penal Code, pleaded guilty before Sessions Court Judge Jean Sharmila Jesudason here on Wednesday (April 1).
Mohd Airul was accused of having sex with the then 13-year-old victim at his house in Kampung Sungai Timah, Perak Tengah, on a day in June 2024 at about 3pm.
Pleading for leniency, the unrepresented Mohd Airul apologised, saying he has to care for his mother and siblings. He told the court that he works as an excavator driver, earning about RM150 per day, and that he is unmarried.
Muhammad Asri was accused of committing the offence at a house in Sungai Jejawi on March 21 this year at about 7pm. Also unrepresented, he said he earns about RM90 a day as a labourer.
“I regret my actions and apologise. I promise not to repeat the offence and hope for a lenient sentence,” he said.
In sentencing, Judge Jean Sharmila noted that both men pleaded guilty at the first opportunity and ordered that their prison terms run from the date of their arrest. They were arrested on March 22.
Deputy public prosecutor Nor Arfahanim Azureen Arfanuddin prosecuted the case.
