The 40-year-old man will also be given four strokes of the cane.

A three-man Court of Appeal bench comprising Justices Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera, Azhahari Kamal Ramli and SM Komathy Suppiah made the ruling following the prosecution’s appeal to restore the lower court’s decision.

The prosecution’s appeal was against the High Court’s decision to reduce the man’s jail sentence to seven years.

In setting aside the High Court’s decision, Vazeer said the lower court made an error when reducing the prison sentence from 10 years to seven years.

He said the seven-year jail term was low and that the High Court should have considered the relationship between the victim and the offender.

Considering the trend of sentencing, 10 years in prison is appropriate for the offence, he said.

On July 15, 2021, the man pleaded guilty to two counts of committing physical sexual assault on the Standard Six student in a house in Banting, Selangor on April 17 and May 9, the same year.

The sessions court sentenced him to 10 years in jail with two strokes of the cane for each count. He was ordered to serve the jail sentences concurrently.

The charge was framed under Section 14(a) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017, read with Section 16(1) of the same law. Section 14 (a) provides for a maximum jail sentence of 20 years and whipping, upon conviction.

On June 28 last year, the High Court allowed the man’s appeal and reduced his jail term to seven years, while maintaining the whipping sentence. This prompted the prosecution to file an appeal to the Court of Appeal.

Deputy public prosecutor P Sarulatha said the High Court did not take into account Section 16(1) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 201.