BUTTERWORTH: A Rohingya man was charged at the Sessions Court here today with two counts of rape and two counts of sexual assault against two sisters.
The 55-year-old janitor, who was clad in an orange batik top, pleaded not guilty to all the four charges read to him by the court interpreters before judge Noor Aini Yusof.
On the first count, he was charged with sexual assault against the older sibling, aged 12 years and six months, by groping her breast and performing oral sex at a house in Taman Senangin, Prai here about 11am on July 24, 2022.
On the second count, he was charged with raping the same victim at the same place between January and December 2021.
He faced a third charge of sexual assault against the younger sibling, aged eight years and three months old, for performing oral sex on the young girl at a house in Taman Senangin, Prai here about 1pm on July 25, 2022.
He also faced a fourth charge of raping the same victim at the same place between January and December 2021.
The sisters are Rohingya.
The sexual assault charges were framed under Section 14(a) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017, which carries a jail term of up to 20 years and whipping upon conviction.
The rape charges were framed under Section 376(1) of the Penal Code, which carries a maximum of 20 years' jail and whipping upon conviction, and Section 376(2) of the Penal Code, which carries between 10 and 30 years' jail and whipping upon conviction
Deputy public prosecutor Muhamad Syeqal Che Murat said the prosecution did not offer any bail.
He said this was because the accused was staying in the same neighbourhood as the victims.
He added that there would be three other victims, from the same neighbourhood, who would be coming forward to give their statements.
"So, to prevent the accused from disturbing the victims and the prosecution witnesses, we are not offering any bail," he said.
The accused's counsel, Rafael Abdullah, said he would not make any request for bail at this stage.
"I will have to go through all the documents first and advise my client accordingly before deciding on the next course of action," he added.
Noor Aini did not offer bail.
She fixed Sept 2 for mention of the case pending submission of documents and medical report.