A MECHANIC was sentenced to seven years in jail and ordered to be whipped once by the Shah Alam Sessions Court today, for raping a 12-year-old girl last year.

Judge Rasyihah Ghazali meted out the punishment to the accused, Muhammad Amirul Abdullah, 27, who is also a father of two, after he pleaded guilty to the charges read to him.

The court ordered the accused to serve the jail sentence from the date of his arrest on October 14.

Amirul admitted to committing the act in a unit at Puchong Permai flat in Puchong, near Shah Alam at 9.30pm on July 29, last year.

The charge, under section 376(1) of the penal code, carries a maximum 20 years’ jail and whipping.

The accused, who was not represented, appealed for leniency on grounds he had repented and was the sole breadwinner of his family.

However, deputy public prosecutor Nur Zatil Hidayah Ali pressed the court to mete out a deterrent punishment against the accused due to the gravity of the crime. – Bernama, December 22, 2022.