SIBU, Nov 4 — The Sessions Court has sentenced a 58-year-old man to 20 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to two counts of voluntarily causing grievous hurt to his wife and daughter using a machete.
The accused, Rahim Shim Abdullah, was charged with committing the offences at their family home at 5.38am on Wednesday (October 29).
According to the charge sheet, he caused grievous hurt to his wife Fatimah Mohammad @ Foung Swee Fung, 46, and his daughter, Nohaida Shim Mee Jiun, 20, using a machete, an offence under Section 326 of the Penal Code, read together with Section 326A of the same Code.
Under the law, the offence carries a prison term of up to 20 years, a fine, or whipping, while Section 326A allows the sentence to be doubled when the crime involves a family member.
During the incident, both victims sustained slash wounds and were rushed to the hospital for treatment, while the accused fled the scene before being arrested later that day near a durian orchard in Kanowit.
In mitigation, Rahim, who has been unemployed since the Covid-19 pandemic, told the court that he regretted his actions and claimed he was under emotional distress after repeated arguments with his wife over alleged infidelity.
Unrepresented by counsel, the accused pleaded for a lenient sentence, citing his health problems and responsibilities towards his wife and three children.
However, Deputy Public Prosecutor Cynthia Emmelda Jerry pressed for a deterrent sentence, stressing that the accused’s actions were serious as they endangered the lives of his own wife and daughter and involved the use of a dangerous weapon.
When delivering the sentence, Judge Musyiri Peet said the accused’s actions were inexcusable despite his domestic disputes and emotional distress.
“As the head of the family, the accused was duty-bound to protect his wife and child. Instead, he inflicted grievous harm upon them, breaching the trust and responsibility expected of him,” he said.
Taking into account the nature and gravity of the offences, the court sentenced Rahim to 10 years’ imprisonment for each charge, with the sentences to run consecutively, totalling 20 years’ imprisonment, effective from the conviction date.
