By Nour Maghfirah –
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, OCT 14 – A 32-year-old local man was sentenced to 33 years in prison and 20 strokes of the cane after being found guilty of sexually assaulting two of his underage nephews.
Judicial Commissioner Haji Abdullah Soefri bin POKSM DSP Haji Abidin handed down the sentence on October 2 after ruling that the defendant was guilty of two charges of sexual assault. During the trial, the defendant denied all charges and questioned prosecution witnesses about their lack of evidence, other than the victim’s testimony.
The witnesses, except victim A and victim B, admitted they had no direct evidence, which the court acknowledged is typical in sexual offense cases where the victims are often only eyewitnesses.
The Judicial Commissioner also ruled that there was no reason or motive for the complainant or the victim’s family to fabricate their testimony, stressing that the testimony from victim A and victim B was not coerced.
He further stated that the two victims, along with other prosecution witnesses, were credible.
The defendant himself has admitted that it is unusual for boys as young as victim A and victim B to give such detailed accounts of their uncles.
The court found their testimony to be true based on their direct experience.
The first charge involves an incident in 2020 where the defendant had sexual intercourse against the laws of nature with victim A, who was under 14 years old at the time. The second charge relates to a similar offense committed in 2019 against victim B, who is also a minor.
In addition to proving the case beyond the court’s reasonable doubt, Prosecuting Officer Ahmad Firdaus Mohammad presented the sentence that was taken into account by the court.
In imposing the sentence, the Judicial Commissioner emphasized the seriousness of the crime, taking into account the strong public interest in preventing sexual offenses involving young victims.
He stressed the importance of protecting the community, especially children, from sexual predators, and emphasized that the sentence would act as a deterrent to potential offenders.
