Judge Ahmad Sazali Omar handed down the sentence on Ariff Amirrul Akmal Abu Bakar Lam, 21, after finding him guilty of the offence, to be served from the day of arrest, which was Jan 19.

“You are in prison for theft and have only two more weeks to be in prison. At this time, you should have behaved, but you had to do this,” said the judge.

Ariff Amirrul Akmal, from Ampang, Selangor, was charged with committing the offence on a 19-year-old convict at the Jasin Correctional Centre, Jasin, at 11.30 pm last Jan 11.

He was charged under Section 377B of the Penal Code, which provides an imprisonment for up to 20 years and whipping.

Deputy public prosecutor Siti Ruvinna Mohd Rawi prosecuted.

In Petaling Jaya, a former school van driver was sentenced to 18 months’ jail and two strokes of whipping by the Magistrate’s Court today for outraging the modesty of a 12-year-old schoolgirl.

Magistrate Atiqah Abd Karim@Husaini sentenced S Sabapathi,44, after finding him guilty of outraging the modesty of a schoolgirl in a school van in front of a school at 6.45am on July 26, 2010.

Atiqah said the defence failed to raise reasonable doubt against the prosecution’s case and ordered Sabapathi to serve the sentence from today.

He was charged under Section 354 of Penal Code which carries a maximum jail term of 10 years or fine or whipping or any two of the punishments.

However, the court allowed the application by defence counsel Raj Preet Kaur for a stay of execution pending appeal in the High Court.

The court raised bail on the accused from RM3,000 to RM10,000 and ordered him to report to Petaling Jaya police headquarters twice a month.

Earlier, deputy public prosecutor N Sivashangari urged the court to impose a jail sentence and whipping since the offence committed is a sexual crime.

“The victim suffered great trauma. After the incident, she cut her hair short to look like a man,” she added.