Man Escapes Rape Charges Of A Minor Who Conceived His Child Because He Used His Finger
According to the law in Malaysia, rape is defined as penetration by penis into the vagina under involuntary circumstances.
- On 7 May, Bunya Jalong, 60, had all four charges for raping a 15-year-old girl dropped by the Court of Appeal in Sibu, Sarawak. She also became pregnant and gave birth to his child.
Image via Malaysiakini
- Bunya Jalong, 60, walked free on 7 May after the Court of Appeal found his four rape convictions unsound. He was convicted in 2013 of raping a 15-year-old girl in May, June, July and August 2011 in a hotel in Sibu. The victim became pregnant and gave birth to a child at Sibu Hospital on Feb 5, 2012.thestar.com.my
- On 31 October 2013, The Sessions Court convicted him on all four rape charges that happened in a hotel in Sibu. The first for rape and the others under sexual intercourse with a minor but with consent. Punishment totaled to 42 years in jail, 11 whippings and RM40,000 compensation for the girl.
Image via Wisegeek
- The first rape charge stated that Bunya had raped the complainant at the end of May 2011 in a hotel room, which is an offence under Section 376(2)(d) Penal Code.
The second, third and fourth rape charges were for sexual intercourse with a minor but with consent in the subsequent months of June, July and August at the same hotel framed under Section 376(1) of the same Code.
On Oct 31, 2013, the Sessions Court convicted the accused on all four charges and imposed 15 years’ jail and five whippings for the first charge, and nine years’ jail and two whippings for the other three charges which were ordered to run concurrently. The court also ordered for RM40,000 in compensation to be paid to the girl.theborneopost.com
- Bunya appealed to the High Court this year to the High Court against his charges and his total sentence was reduced to 15 years in jail with the same number of whips and compensation
- This had been reduced on appeal to jail of eight years for the first charge, three years for the second, and two years for the third and fourth charges.
themalaymailonline.com
- Bunya appealed to the High Court and had the jail term for the first charge reduced to eight years, the second charge reduced to three years, and the third and fourth charges reduced to two years each. The number of whipping however remained.
- He appealed again, this time to the Court of Appeal citing that both his name and the girl's were not in the hotel registry, so they may not have occupied a room. The panel freed him of his charges reasoning that it was 'unsafe' to convict.
- Augustine (left) with Bunya (right) smiling after the the court's discharge, justifies the Court of Appeal’s ruling that the conviction was not safe based on three factors.
Image via See Hua
- Augustine said the Court of Appeal’s ruling that the conviction was not safe because firstly, both the complainant and the accused’s names were not in the hotel register, giving rise to the presumption that they had not checked-in or occupied any room in the hotel.
Secondly, Augustine said the judges found that her testimony to be unreliable and untruthful as a witness. “The complainant had related the four incidents in the same manner, thus not quite believable and considered not credible. If on the first incident she was forced into sex, why would she follow the accused to the hotel the next three times that followed?” asked Augustine.
- According to Bunya, the girl asked to have sex with him in a YMCA toilet. He ejaculated after she gave him a hand-job. His finger, smeared with semen, was inserted into her vagina.
- Thirdly, a specialist obstetrician had testified that pregnancy could occur if freshly ejaculated semen laden with sperm is inserted with a finger into the vagina. In his evidence, only once on June 6, 2011, she asked him to have sexual intercourse with him in a toilet of the YMCA. According to the accused, she gave him a hand-job causing him to ejaculate and then his semen was smeared onto both their fingers and he later inserted his finger into her vagina.
- Penang executive councillor Chong Eng says, “Even if existing law is unable to sentence him on rape charges, prosecutors should have charged him with molest and ordered him to be responsible for the child to meet social justice.”
Image via The Malaysian Insider
- Penang executive councillor Chong Eng said, "The victim in the Sibu case was even made pregnant and gave birth to a boy, but the accused escaped punishment under loopholes in the law. This is an unacceptable decision." According to the law rape, is defined as penetration by penis into the vagina under involuntary circumstances.malaysiakini.com
“Even if existing law is unable to sentence him on rape charges, prosecutors should have charged him with molest and ordered him to be responsible for the child to meet social justice,” Chong said in a statement.
- The discharge has shocked The Sarawak Women for Women Society (SWWS), stating that the rape charges have enough proof under the Child Act and Penal Code. Furthermore, in this cases, fear and confusion may affect a child's testimony. The verdict will also make it more difficult to bring future rape cases to court.
Image via Hifzan Shafiee
- SWWS president Margaret Bedus said DNA testing proved that he was the father of the baby. "Under the definition of sexual abuse in the Child Act, the action of the man, who admitted to a hand job, is clearly an act of sexual abuse. Also, under the Penal Code, intercourse with a child under 16 is statutory rape," she added.
asiaone.com
- Margaret said the legal system still does not understand the well-researched dynamics of child sexual abuse, including how fear and confusion affected a child's behaviour and testimony. "And, the inappropriateness of consent when an adult conducted sexual activities with a minor," she said.thestar.com.my
- Margaret said the acquittal would set a dangerous precedent if left unchallenged. "Already child rape is under-reported. This verdict, if it is allowed to stand, will make it more difficult to successfully bring (rape) cases to court," she said.
