IPOH, July 27 — Tronoh state assemblyman Paul Yong Choo Kiong was sentenced to 13 years’ jail and two strokes of the cane by the High Court here today after he was found guilty of raping his maid in 2019.
Judge Datuk Abdul Wahab Mohamed handed down the sentence on Yong after finding the defense had failed to raise reasonable doubt at the end of its case.
However, the court allowed Yong’s application for a stay of execution pending appeal.
The court also allowed Yong bail of RM30,000 with one surety and ordered him to surrender his passport to the court.
In his judgment, Abdul Wahab said a heavy deterrent punishment should be imposed on Yong so as to serve as a lesson to him and also to others.
“As an employer, he should have been the one who provided protection to the maid, not the one who succumbed to sexual lust to commit such a crime,” he added.
On March 31, the defense 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.
The prosecution team was led by Perak prosecution director Azlina Rasdi, together with deputy public prosecutors, Liyana Zawani Mohd Radzi and Mohd Fitri Sadarudin.
Meanwhile, the Secretary of the Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Junjungan Sigalingging, when met outside the court, said he was satisfied with the High Court’s decision today, which he described as fair.
— Bernama
