“It’s time for the government to honour its pledge and save our girls.”
She was commenting on the case of a man, charged with raping a 14-year-old girl, who avoided prison after he married her.
First of all, added the MP, statutory rape is a very serious offence.
Section 376 of the Penal Code defines statutory rape as sexual intercourse with a girl under the age of 16, whether or not she has given consent. “The marriage of the accused and victim does not have the retrospective effect to ‘right the wrong’,” said Teo.
Therefore, she asked, how could the court use it as a reason to drop the prosecution proceeding.
Secondly, underaged victims should never be allowed to withdraw a complaint. “Underaged victims usually do not understand their rights,” she said. “Therefore, they are normally not in a position to make a decision to protect their best interests.”
Thirdly, they can be easily influenced by third parties, and the decision may affect them adversely. In circumstances like this, the Child Protector, appointed under the Child Act 2001, needs to step in to decide for the victim, said Teo.
Finally, and not least, the MP finds it obvious that the current “protection” against child marriage was not working. “This is not the first time that a rapist was allowed to marry his underaged victim,” she recalled. “It’s surely not going to be the last.”
According to the prosecutor Ahmad Fariz Ahdul Hamid, the accused Ahmad Syukri Yusuf, 22, was charged with statutory rape of a girl late last year. He faced up to 30 years in jail and whipping for the offence. He later married the teenager under Islamic law.
The court ruled that there was no need to continue court proceedings after Ahmad Syukri submitted a marriage certificate last week.
The girl had also withdrawn her complaint.
In 2013, Riduan Masmud, 40, a restaurant manager in Sabah, was allowed to take his 13-year old victim as his second wife. Riduan was already married and had four children aged between 3 and 18
Unlike the case cited by Teo, he was sentenced to serve 12 years and whipped.