The restaurant manager accused of raping a 13-year-old girl whom he subsequently married, has been charged with bribing the girl’s father RM5,000 to withdraw the police report. Riduan Masmud, 41, was accused of offering RM5,000 to the man on April 18 and for giving RM2,000 and RM3,000 between 9pm and 12 midnight at separate locations in Kota Kinabalu on the same day.
The rape, which allegedly took place in a parked car in Inanam around 10 am on Feb 18, was not brought to light until the 13-year-old’s aunt filed a police report. Riduan, who has two daughters and two sons with his first wife, was charged with the crime 10 days later but married the girl in the Syariah court soon after – a marriage that was highly frowned upon by the state of Sabah.
Meanwhile, Deputy Prosecuting Officer Mukhriz Mat Rus representing the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission asked for a RM10,000 bail with two local sureties after Riduan pleaded not guilty to the charges read to him in front of Sessions Court judge Caroline Bee Majanil on Monday.
His counsel Loretto S Padua Jr. objected to the amount of bail saying that imposing it was like punishing him before the trial.
“This amount is too high and my client cannot afford it”, he said, adding Riduan had been suspended from his job and was making ends meet doing part-time jobs. The court set bail at RM2,000 with one local surety for all charges and set June 21 for case management, which he duly posted.
Riduan will be appearing again in court on June 6 to find out whether the prosecution will proceed with the earlier rape case.
(Source)
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