Cover image via seehua.com
Putrajaya pressured to widen definition of rape so 'finger rape' loophole doesn't repeat
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The online petition can be signed at change.org/p/government-of-malaysia-datuk-seri-najib-tun-razak-hentikan-rogol-stop-raping-our-children
Mum of teen who was raped by 61-year-old man makes first public plea for justice
Rosmiati (right) being comforted by Fatimah's arms after breaking down during her speech at the rally
Image via Photo by Tan Song Wei
On 14 May, AGC rejects appeal to review finger rapist's acquittal from underage rape charges
Sarawak's Welfare, Women and Family Development Minister Datuk Fatimah Abdullah embracing the girl who visited the minister's office in Kuching to appeal for justice.
Image via The Star
The handwritten appeal was handed in personally by her guardians on 12 May. One of her guardians Rosita said she was upset with the court's decision to release Bunya. She only discovered his release through the newspaper, as she was not informed of the developments on the case even when it was brought to the High Court and Appeals Court.
Rosita and her husband have travelled all the way from Selangau to seek help in bringing the accused to justice.
Image via The Borneo Post
Rosita added that the victim had "changed" since giving birth to Bunya's son, saying that she has started dressing as a boy and cut her hair short as if to "shake off her feminity"
On 7 May, Bunya Jalong, 60, had all four charges for raping a 15-year-old girl dropped by the Court of Appeal in Sibu, Sarawak. She also became pregnant and gave birth to his child.
Image via Malaysiakini
On 31 October 2013, The Sessions Court convicted him on all four rape charges that happened in a hotel in Sibu. The first for rape and the others under sexual intercourse with a minor but with consent. Punishment totaled to 42 years in jail, 11 whippings and RM40,000 compensation for the girl.
Image via Wisegeek
Bunya appealed to the High Court this year to the High Court against his charges and his total sentence was reduced to 15 years in jail with the same number of whips and compensation
He appealed again, this time to the Court of Appeal citing that both his name and the girl's were not in the hotel registry, so they may not have occupied a room. The panel freed him of his charges reasoning that it was 'unsafe' to convict.
Augustine (left) with Bunya (right) smiling after the the court's discharge, justifies the Court of Appeal's ruling that the conviction was not safe based on three factors.
Image via See Hua
According to Bunya, the girl asked to have sex with him in a YMCA toilet. He ejaculated after she gave him a hand-job. His finger, smeared with semen, was inserted into her vagina.
Penang executive councillor Chong Eng says, "Even if existing law is unable to sentence him on rape charges, prosecutors should have charged him with molest and ordered him to be responsible for the child to meet social justice."
Image via The Malaysian Insider
The discharge has shocked The Sarawak Women for Women Society (SWWS), stating that the rape charges have enough proof under the Child Act and Penal Code. Furthermore, in this cases, fear and confusion may affect a child's testimony. The verdict will also make it more difficult to bring future rape cases to court.
Image via Hifzan Shafiee
