IPOH, Feb 8 — A 49-year-old night market (pasar malam) trader claimed trial at the Sessions Court here to allegedly raping his 14-year-old stepdaughter in Kampung Banjar, Ayer Tawar.

The accused clad in a yellow T-shirt and blue jeans pleaded not guilty when the charges were read before Judge N. Priscilla Hemamalini.

The accused may not be named in order to protect the victim's identity.

The man was accused of having sexual intercourse with the stepdaughter he was prohibited from marrying under religious law, at his house in Kampung Banjar, Ayer Tawar in Manjung district in June of 2020.

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He was also accused of repeating the offence in July 2020 and on December 26 last year at the same location.

The charges were framed under Section 376B (1) of the Penal Code for incest, which is punishable by imprisonment of up to 30 years and whipping.

Deputy public prosecutor Mohd Waffy Ismail prosecuted while the accused was represented by a lawyer, Shahrul Nizam Mohd Rabi.

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Members of the media were not allowed to enter the court during the proceeding which took about 20 minutes.

Mohd Waffy told reporters later that he tried to oppose bail because the accused stayed just 50m away from the teen’s current residence.

“The victim is staying at her aunt’s house which is opposite to the accused’s house. There is potential for the accused to disturb the victim and cause trauma,” he said.

Shahrul Nizam told reporters that he requested the court to allow bail as his client was prepared to accept any additional conditions.

Priscilla then set bail at RM10,000 for all three charges with one surety and ordered the accused to report to the nearest police station once every month until the end of the case.

Case mention was set for March 11.