Malaysian cop jailed for raping detainees

Malaysian cop jailed for raping detainees

Agence France-Presse, Kuala Lumpur

A Malaysian cop has been sentenced to 15 years in jail and ordered to be given 17 whippings for raping a Filipino and an Indonesian woman in a police lock-up, reports said on Friday.

Constable Razali Pilen, 27, was found guilty of raping the two women, both illegal immigrants working as prostitutes, in February last year, the New Straits Times said.

He was sentenced to 15 years' jail and 10 strokes of the cane for raping the 23-year-old Filipina and 15 years' jail and seven lashes for raping the 24-year-old Indonesian. The sentences are to run concurrently.

Razali was initially acquitted and discharged last September without his defense being called but another court in April reversed the decision on appeal by prosecution.

The case has grabbed public attention as Razali claimed in his defense that the two victims had seduced him and that his supervisor had also coaxed him into having sex with them.

Judge Mohamed Saman Ramli, in his ruling, said the act was shameful as it had taken place at the man's workplace.

Although the two women were said to be prostitutes, the judge said they still had the right to refuse sex and if there was no consent, it would constitute rape.

"You are handsome... you should have got yourself a girlfriend and not acted like this. The gravity of the offense is increased because you committed the offense in the police station while on duty," he said.

Prosecutors had pressed for the maximum 20 years' jail sentence for Razali for taking advantage of his authority by "oppressing the weak who were at his mercy."