Appeal Court Upholds 12-Year Prison Term and Caning for Retired Officer's Child Assault

In Putrajaya, the Court of Appeal affirmed the conviction of a 76-year-old retired police officer for the sexual assault of a five-year-old girl, maintaining a 12-year imprisonment and two strokes of the rotan. Judges Datuk Azman Abdullah, K. Muniandy and Dean Wayne Daly ruled that the victim’s testimony, given when she was eight, aligned with the police report filed by her father and the accompanying medical findings.

They emphasized the crime’s severe physical and psychological impact on the child and stressed that age does not excuse such conduct. A warrant was issued for the man to begin serving his sentence immediately, while the prison will decide if he is fit for caning. His counsel cited a recent accident and deteriorating health, but the Deputy Public Prosecutor, Jasmee Hameeza Jaafar, asserted the victim’s competence as a witness. The appeal had been stayed pending this hearing, and the man appeared in court in a wheelchair.