The Sarawak Women for Women Society (SWWS) president Margaret Bedus says children must be protected from all forms of sexual abuse and exploitation. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, May 18, 2015.The Sarawak Women for Women Society (SWWS) today joined the chorus demanding that the Attorney-General's Chambers file a review against the acquittal of a 60-year-old man who raped a 14-year-old girl, saying that the court's decision showed “a clear need for a speedy change to the law”.
The teenager became pregnant and in 2012 gave birth to a son. DNA tests showed that the man, Bunya Jalong, was the biological father of the child.
“If there is no review, the public is being asked to believe the assertion of the accused that conception could only have occurred through a finger, which scientifically has a low probability,” SWWS president Margaret Bedus said today.
She joined Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Nancy Shukri, Sarawak Minister of Welfare, Women and Family Development Datuk Fatimah Abdullah, Wanita MCA chief Datuk Heng Seai Kie and professionals in child protection who had earlier called on the A-G to file a judicial review.
Previous reports said the Court of Appeal's three-man bench comprising Datuk Abdul Wahab Patail, Datuk Linton Albert and Datuk Seri Zakaria Sam in their unanimous decision had said the conviction on Bunya Jalong from Sibu “was not safe”.
The court acquitted the man based on the legal definition of “sexual intercourse” which means only penile penetration.
The accused’s legal counsel Augustine Liom successfully argued that the man did not have sexual intercourse with the girl but had only inserted his fingers smeared with his sperm into the girl’s private part which resulted in the pregnancy.
The full grounds of judgement have yet to be released.
Bedus said today that failure to review the decision meant disbelieving the girl due to perceived problems in her testimony which it said was “a common occurrence seen in child witnesses”.
She said only an investigation into the decision would answer the doubts of the concerned public.
Liom last Friday said the case should be put to rest after the A-G reported in a statement explaining the case that his chambers would not be asking for a review.
The issuance of the statement saw Heng erroneously suggesting that Liom's conduct be referred to the Bar Council’s disciplinary committee.
The Bar Council does not have purview on the conduct of lawyers from Sarawak or Sabah.
Nonetheless, Bedus asked Liom to refrain “from public character assassination of a minor and [to] let the Court of Appeal speak for itself”.
“He talks about addressing an imbalance but forgets the constraints on the DPP (deputy public prosecutor) to challenge some of his assertions in the press.
“His assumptions are questionable,” Bedus said.
She said Liom in his statement had branded the girl a liar for having said she had menstruation during the pregnancy “but seems unaware that some women with complicated pregnancies have episodes of bleeding”.
“What teenager would know the difference?
“There are many instances of women misreading signs of pregnancy, more so young girls.”
On her call for changes to the law, Bedus said prompt reform of the Penal Code was urgently needed to ensure the definition of rape was widened to cover penetration of the vagina by other parts of the body or objects other than the penis.
“There should never again be space for lawyers to be debating how conception occurs.”
SWWS added that the reform “must also ensure that the sound reasoning behind the Child Act 2001 is incorporated into the Penal Code so it is clear to all in the legal profession that this important legislation cannot be ignored”.
“Children must be effectively protected from all forms of sexual abuse and exploitation.”
Bunya was convicted by a Sibu sessions court of raping the girl in May, June, July and August of 2011 in a hotel.
The court handed out a 15-year jail sentence and five strokes of the rotan for the first charge, and nine years’ jail and two strokes for the other three charges which were ordered to run concurrently.
Bunya’s appeal ended in the Court of Appeal.
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