IPOH, July 27 — Tronoh state assemblyman Paul Yong Choo Kiong was found guilty by the High Court today of raping his maid in 2019.
Judge Datuk Abdul Wahab Mohamed made the decision after finding that the defence had failed to raise reasonable doubt at the end of its case.
Clad in a white shirt, Yong who sat in the accused’s dock appeared calm when the judgment was read out by the judge at 10.10am.
The court stood down for a while to enable the prosecution and the defence to prepare submissions on mitigation before the judge imposed the sentence on the accused.
On March 31, the defence led by lawyer Datuk Rajpal Singh with Salim Bashir closed their case after calling three witnesses, namely Yong, 52, his wife Too Choon Looi, 46, and the maid’s uncle Muhammad Rusdi, 51.
Yong was accused of raping the 23-year-old maid in a room on the first floor of his house in Meru Desa Park between 8.15pm and 9.15pm on July 7, 2019.
The charge, framed under Section 376 (1) of the Penal Code, provides a jail term of up to 20 years and is liable to whipping, upon conviction.
— Bernama
