However, the three-member bench chaired by Justice Kamaludin Said, allowed his sentence to be reduced from the initial 16 years. The 28-year-old also saw his whipping punishment reduced from five strokes to two.

The man was out on a RM30,000 bail pending the outcome of today’s appeal.

In 2019, the sessions court in Kota Baru, Kelantan, sentenced the man to 16 years’ jail and ordered him to be whipped five times after he was found guilty of the offence.

A High Court last year affirmed the conviction and sentence.

The man committed the offence at a bush in the Pak Amat beach in Pengkalan Chepa, between 12.30am and 2am, on June 4, 2018.

The man and the victim’s friends had gone for an outing at the beach.

Kamaludin said the trial judge did not commit any error in law and fact for the bench to intervene.

“We have gone through the medical evidence and the complaint that the trial judge did not consider the appellant’s defence. We find the conviction is safe,” he said.

However, Kamaludin said the sentence was manifestly excessive based on “the facts and circumstances of this case”.

Kamaludin hoped the man would repent and be a responsible citizen upon his release.

Counsel Shaharuddin Mohammed pleaded for a lenient sentence as his client did not use criminal force to have sexual intercourse with the girl.

However, deputy public prosecutor Fauziah Daud urged the court to maintain the conviction and sentence due to the findings by the sessions court and the High Court.

Kamaludin sat with Justices Ahmad Nasfy Yasin and Hashim Hamzah.