KOTA KINABALU, Feb 27 — A Timorese man was sentenced to 10 years in prison and two strokes of the cane by the Sessions Court here yesterday for raping an underage girl whom he met through the social media platform TikTok.

Judge Monica Linsua handed down the sentence after Rafinus Bata Tukan, 30, from Timor Leste, pleaded guilty to the charge.

He was ordered to serve the sentence from the date of arrest, which was December 19 last year, and to be referred to the Malaysian Immigration Department after completing the sentence.

According to the case facts, the complainant lodged a police report on December 7 last year after his 15-year-old daughter went missing. The teenager had gone out on December 6 with the accused on a motorcycle, after knowing him for only about a month through the social media platform TikTok.

The victim later told her father that the accused had raped her while she was in his rented room in Inanam at about 7pm on December 7 last year.

The accused was charged under Section 376(2)(d) of the Penal Code, which provides for a prison term of between 10 and 30 years and whipping upon conviction.

The prosecution was conducted by Deputy Public Prosecutor Nurul Shaferrah Mad Iskim, while the accused was unrepresented. — Bernama