A husband and wife face life in prison for exploiting children for sex, while four men were arrested for raping the same victim.
TEMERLOH - A married couple faces life imprisonment if found guilty of trafficking a 13-year-old child for sexual exploitation.
In addition, four other men aged 37 to 57 years were also brought before the Sessions Court 1, here today for the offense of raping and physically assaulting the victim in Bera last year.
Mohd Rizal Hamzah, 38 and his wife, Intan wahidah Mohd Nor, 47 however pleaded not guilty when the charge sheet was read before Judge Jamaludin Mat today.
According to the charge sheet, the husband and wife were jointly accused of committing the offense between May and September 2022 at a residence in Felda Purun, Bera under Section 14 of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrant Act (ATIPSOM) 2007 and read together with Section 34 of the Code Punishment.
In addition, Mohd Rizal was also accused of three other offenses under Section 12 (1) of the Sexual Offenses Against Children Act 2017, namely communicating with the victim to facilitate the rape of her in addition to sexual grooming.
He was also charged under Section 377C of the Penal Code and Section 377CA of the Penal Code, which is to commit unnatural intercourse, Section 376 (1) of the Penal Code for rape, in addition to Section 14 (a) of the Sexual Offenses Against Children Act 2017 for molestation.
While the accused, Intan Wahidah, was charged with six more charges including one charge of physical sexual abuse against the minor victim according to Section 14 (b) of the Sexual Offenses Against Children Act 2017, in addition to five charges under Section 12 (1) of the Act Sexual Offenses Against Children 2017.
For all the charge sheets that were read, Judge Jamaludin set a total bail of RM35,000 for Mohd Rizal, while for Intan Wahidah it was RM29,000 with one surety each.
In addition, the judge also set an additional condition that the accused must not disturb the victim and her family until the case is resolved.
Meanwhile, the accused Mohd Ismail Burhan, 42, was accused of three counts of physical sexual abuse, intercourse against the rules of nature and raping the same victim in September 2022 at around 7pm.
According to the charge, he can be punished under Section 14 (a) of the Sexual Offenses Against Children Act 2017, Section 377C of the Penal Code and Section 376 (1) of the Penal Code which carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years and can be whipped for each charge if convicted .
The judge set a total of RM10,000 bail with one surety with the additional condition that the accused must not disturb the victim and the victim's family until the case is resolved.
Ahmad Rudzuan Ismail, 41, was accused of two counts of raping and having sex by inserting a finger into the child's genitals without permission from May to June 2022 at the same location.
For the offence, Ahmad Radzuan was charged under Section 376 (1) of the Penal Code which carries a maximum sentence of up to 20 years with whipping and Section 377C of the Penal Code which carries a maximum prison sentence of 30 years with whipping if convicted.
The judge set bail of RM15,000 with one surety on the additional condition that the accused must not disturb the victim and the victim's family until the case is resolved.
The next accused, Mohd Abdul Hafis Endut, 37, was charged with the offense of rape and two charges of physical sexual assault against the same victim from June to September last year.
Following that, he was charged in accordance with Section 376 (1) of the Penal Code and Section 14 (a) of the Sexual Offenses Against Children Act 2017 which carries a prison sentence of up to 20 years and can be punished with whipping if convicted.
The judge also set a bail of RM10,000 with one surety on the additional condition that the accused must not disturb the victim and the victim's family until the case is resolved.
The sixth accused, Kamaruzaman Basir, 57, is also charged under Section 376 (1) of the Penal Code for raping the underage victim and can be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison and caning if convicted.
The judge set bail of RM6,000 with one surety on the additional condition that the accused must not disturb the victim and the victim's family until the case is resolved.
Since all the accused pleaded not guilty, the judge set a date of next March 1 for re-mention and case management.
The case is handled by Deputy Public Prosecutors Afidatul Azwa Kamarul Anuar and Faizah Khalilah Zaberi.
Married couple, Mohd Rizal and Intan Wahidah and Kamaruzaman were represented by Lawyer Aida Rahayu Abd Rahman, while Ismail Burhan, Ahmad Rudzuan and Mohd Hafiz were represented by Lawyer Mazura Ismail
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