2 years jail for raping an underage girl; 4 years jail for stealing laptop

This is how our Malaysian courts places a value on the life of a little girl who was repeatedly raped by Musa Ahmad a 39 year-old contractor.

This rapist was sentenced to two years’ jail and one stroke of the cane by a Sessions Court in Johore Baru after he pleaded guilty to the underage girl.

Musa had committed the offence at a house at Parit Sentang Batu, Parit Sulong at around 4am in November 2007 and was charged under Section 376 of the Penal Code. The charge provides a maximum of 20 years’ jail and whipping upon conviction.

Musa had raped the girl at least 11 times in November and December 2007.

The girl subsequently gave birth to a baby boy at her house toilet in Kampung Sepah Beruang, Benut, Pontian, on Sept 13, 2008.

A paternity test conducted by the Chemistry Department confirmed that the child was fathered by the accused.

Sessions Court Judge Nu’Aman Mahmud Zahudi sentenced the man to two years’ jail and one stroke of the cane and ordered the prison term to commence from the date of conviction.

However, in an unrelated case which was mentioned in the same report column in ‘The Star’, a mechanic Baharudin Omar, 35, was accused of breaking into a house along Jalan Jenawi 5, Taman Puteri Wangsa in November last year and stealing a laptop and a roll of wires worth RM2,000.

He was charged under Section 457 of the Penal Code and sentenced to four years’ jail and three strokes of the cane by a magistrate’s court after he pleaded guilty to theft.

There must be something wrong with the judiciary of our country if the life of a little girl has little value, if at all.

Her rapist escapes with a sentence which is similar to giving him a rap on the knuckles. He will be let off after two years’ jail, possibly earlier, with good behaviour. He can pick up the pieces of his life. He will also continue to be a danger to society.

Is this the how low our courts have descended to? Stealing a laptop warrants a more severe punishment than raping an underage girl, making her pregnant, and saddling her with an unwanted child.

And what about the illegitimate child? He or she has to live with the knowledge that its father was a rapist.

What about the girl’s future? She will lack opportunities in education and a good job. She will have to depend on her own family to sustain her as her own future is blighted by this rapist. She may also be shunned by her own community and perhaps, her own family. What are her chances of forging a good stable relationship of her own, in the future?

Why do our courts treat the victims worse than they do the perpetrators? Instead of being helped, the victims undergo more humiliation and punishment.

Whatever sentence that is passed down to the rapist can never be sufficient and will not undo all the damage to his child. She is the one to bear the mental and physical scars for life. Her parents will bear some guilt for what has happened to her child.

It is important that the abuse, sexual or otherwise of children be highlighted. The majority of the Malaysian public is not aware of the severity of this problem and the extent of damage to, or the possible long-term harmful effects, on children.

Most child sexual abuses are never disclosed, but if this is the sort of punishment that is meted out by the courts, it is no wonder that families of the children and the victims themselves, would rather suffer in silence.

When will the courts act to protect the victims of child sexual abuses?

It is time we had a Sex Offenders List so that those who sexually abuse children have their names placed on this list for the rest of their lives and their movements monitored by the police, once they are released from prison.

It is also time we had more severe punishments which will act as deterrents. Our courts are flawed. - Malaysia Chronicle