PUTRAJAYA - The Court of Appeal today increased a former domestic worker’s jail sentence to 15 years for raping an underage girl four years ago.
A three-member bench led by Justice Datuk Azman Abdullah invoked Section 60 of the Courts of Judicature Act 1964 to enhance the sentence on Zulpandy Rispen Effendi from 10 years to 15 years.
"The 10-year jail sentence (imposed by the Sessions Court) did not give a message to the public on the seriousness of rape offences against children,” he said.
Justice Azman, who presided with Justices Datuk Hayatul Akmal Abdul Aziz and K. Muniandy, ordered Zulpandy to serve the sentence starting July 7, 2022, the date of his arrest.
The court also upheld the two strokes of cane imposed by the Sessions Court.
In dismissing Zulpandy’s appeal against his conviction and sentence, Justice Azman said that neither the Sessions Court nor the High Court had erred in their findings.
He said a hotel receptionist’s testimony that registration had been made by the appellant - who was seen together with a girl - was consistent with the victim’s testimony that she was outside the hotel waiting while the appellant made the registration.
On April 22, last year, the Ampang Sessions Court found Zulpandy, an Indonesian national, guilty of raping the girl - who was 13 years and four months old at that time - in a hotel room in the Gombak district, Selangor at 5.34 pm on June 26, 2022.
According to the facts of the case, the victim had acquainted with the appellant and communicated via WhatsApp for only eight days before the date of the incident.
The Sessions Court also ordered Zulpandy to undergo rehabilitation counselling during his detention, followed by two years of police supervision upon completion of the prison sentence.
On Feb 27, this year, the Shah Alam High Court dismissed his appeal and upheld both his conviction and sentence.
During the Court of Appeal proceedings, lawyers Marisha Dianah Md Darus and Ahmad Hafiz A.Bakar represented Zulpandy while Deputy Public Prosecutor Zaki Asyraf Zubir appeared for the prosecution. - BERNAMA