Kuantan High Court cuts rape sentence from 10 years to one year on appeal
The Kuantan High Court reduced a 23-year-old man’s rape sentence from 10 years and six strokes of the cane to one year in jail and two strokes on appeal.
Source: The Rakyat Post · August 27, 2026 at 1:51 PM · AI-assisted report
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KUANTAN, 27 AUGUST 2026 —
The Kuantan High Court reduced a 23-year-old man’s rape sentence from 10 years and six strokes of the cane to one year in jail and two strokes on appeal.
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Judicial Commissioner Samry Masri overturned the Sessions Court’s decision after finding the original sentence excessive. In a 40-page ruling, Samry cited the appellant’s age at the time of the offences, lack of prior convictions and prospects of rehabilitation as grounds for the reduction.
The appellant, 19 at the time, was working at a residential school dining hall when he committed the offences on 8 and 29 October 2022. The complainant, a 15-year-old student, was the victim. He was convicted of two counts of rape under Section 376(1) of the Penal Code.
The Sessions Court had sentenced him to five years and three strokes of the cane for each charge, to run consecutively, totalling 10 years. Samry found the court failed to properly weigh mitigating factors.
The judge noted the complainant’s age meant consent was not a defence under Section 375(g) but emphasised that sentencing must still account for case-specific circumstances. “The appellant’s prospects of rehabilitation remain relevant. He was a young first offender and the evidence did not show a continuing predatory risk requiring lengthy incapacitation,” Samry wrote.
He distinguished the case from predatory or exploitative sexual offending, pointing to the pre-existing relationship, meeting arrangements and lack of evidence of systemic grooming.
Under the revised sentence, the appellant will serve six months and one stroke for the first charge and one year with one stroke for the second, with terms running concurrently. He must also undergo rehabilitative counselling and two years of police supervision after release.
Samry stressed the reduction did not imply recognition of a minor’s agreement as a defence to statutory rape, reiterating that sentences must be “just, proportionate and responsive to the circumstances of each offence”.
Related: Judicial Commissioner Samry Masri · Kuantan