19 years' jail for child rape

2009/07/21

PUTRAJAYA: "The child did not fabricate evidence to implicate you in the crime. We do not doubt her testimony."

This was the immediate remark of judge Datuk T. Selventhiranathan soon after the Court of Appeal confirmed the 191/2-year jail sentence on Mat Saad Md Isa for rape and forcing a child to perform oral sex.

Mat Saad, 64, who was unrepresented, vehemently told the court that the prosecution did not adduce eyewitness evidence that he committed the acts.

Selventhiranathan, who is a High Court judge but co-opted to the Court of Appeal to hear the case, said evidence also showed that Mat Saad promised the girl RM5 and presented her a pair of shoes so that she would not tell others about the incidents.

Judge Datuk Heliliah Mohd Yusof and Datuk Sulaiman Daud were the other judges who sat with Selventhiranathan to dismiss Mat Saad's appeal.

Mat Saad, a former Kuala Lumpur City Hall labourer, had been charged with raping the girl, then nine, at a settlement in Segambut some time in December 2001, and forcing her to perform oral sex on Dec 16, 2001.

The Sessions Court, after a trial, found him guilty of both offences and sentenced Mat Saad to 19 years and six months' jail for rape.

He was also sentenced to four-and-half years' jail for the second offence, the sentences to run concurrently.

Mat Saad was free on bail pending appeal to the High Court which on July 25 last year upheld the conviction and sentence of the lower court.

He began his jail term but filed an appeal to the Court of Appeal. Deputy public prosecutor Tetralina Ahmed Fauzi said the girl's evidence was corroborated by the testimony of a doctor and her mother to conclude that the sexual abuse took place.