Kuala Lumpur:The Court of Appeal has increased a former domestic worker's jail sentence to 15 years for raping an underage girl four years ago.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, a three-member bench led by Justice Datuk Azman Abdullah invoked Section 60 of the Courts of Judicature Act 1964 to enhance the sentence on Zulpandy Rispen Effendi from 10 years to 15 years. Justice Azman stated that the initial 10-year sentence imposed by the Sessions Court did not adequately convey the seriousness of rape offences against children.

Justice Azman, along with Justices Datuk Hayatul Akmal Abdul Aziz and K. Muniandy, ordered Zulpandy to start serving the sentence from July 7, 2022, the date of his arrest. The court also upheld the two strokes of cane imposed by the Sessions Court. In dismissing Zulpandy's appeal against his conviction and sentence, Justice Azman noted that neither the Sessions Court nor the High Court had erred in their findings.

The case details reveal that the Ampang Sessions Court found Zulpandy, an Indonesian national, guilty on April 22 of last year, for the rape of a 13-year and four-month-old girl in a hotel room in the Gombak district, Selangor, at 5.34 pm on June 26, 2022. The victim had communicated with Zulpandy via WhatsApp for only eight days prior to the incident.

Additionally, the Sessions Court ordered Zulpandy to undergo rehabilitation counselling during his detention, followed by two years of police supervision upon completion of his prison sentence. On February 27, the Shah Alam High Court dismissed his appeal and upheld both his conviction and sentence. During the Court of Appeal proceedings, lawyers Marisha Dianah Md Darus and Ahmad Hafiz A.Bakar represented Zulpandy, while Deputy Public Prosecutor Zaki Asyraf Zubir appeared for the prosecution.