Hamid Sultan JC:

[1] This is my judgment in respect of the appellant's (a native of Sarawak) appeal against the sentence.

[2] The appellant was charged with the offence of incest under the new provision of the Penal Code s. 376A which came into force from 27 September 2001. The section reads as follows:

A person is said to commit incest if he or she has sexual intercourse with another person whose relationship to him or her is such that he or she is not permitted, under the law, religion, custom or usage applicable to him or her, to marry that other person.

[3] The section does not give a comprehensive definition of incest. However, it limits the offence of incest to cases where sexual intercourse has taken place between persons who are prohibited from marrying each other under their law, religion, custom or usage.

[4] The appellant was charged in the sessions court for three separate offences of incest relating to the same person (emphasis is mine) and the victim was only 17 years old. The amended charge reads as follows:

(i) Amended 1st Charge

That you, sometime in early February 2005 at about 5am at house No. 41, kampong Bogag, in the district of Bau, in the State of Sa