The lawyers of a man who was sentenced to 48 years in jail after pleading guilty to over 600 sundry charges of sodomizing, sexually assaulting and raping his young daughter are now looking to get the ruling overturned due to police and court oversight on the case.
Just when you were pretty sure that humans were garbage, a couple of lawyers come around and up the ante just a little more.
Co-lawyers Rajesh Nagarajan, and Cyrus Tiu, are highlighting that procedures against the man did not comply with the country’s Criminal Procedure Code (CPC).
Rajesh told the High Court today that the defendant’s rights were not read to him when he plead guilty, he was not allowed to speak to any of his family members at the time of his arrest, nor was he told that he had the right to legal representation.
Shockingly, the courts did not bother asking him if he wanted a lawyer to fight his case.
Ok, wait a minute – was this everyone’s first time at the rodeo? What is going ON here? Guilty or not, it’s a given that someone at least be allowed a lawyer, and we’re pretty sure everyone with access to an episode of Ally McBeal, Law & Order, The Practice, or any John Grisham movie from the 90s knows this.
The judge presiding over the appeal is now asking for court proceedings from the original trial to be released, where the man plead guilty to all of the charges.
He was accused of 623 charges last September at Putrajaya’s Special Court that deals with Sexual Crimes Against Children. The charges of rape, sodomy and sexual abuse were said to have occurred between January to July of 2017.
Authorities were alerted after the girl, who lived with her divorced father, confessed to her mother, after she was told that her two younger siblings were to move in with the father as well.
After pleading guilty, the man appealed the court’s decision on jail sentencing and caning.
Reader Interactions