Tronoh Assemblyman Paul Yong arrived at Ipoh High Court May 17, 2022. — Picture by Farhan Najib
IPOH, May 17 — The High Court here will deliver its ruling on June 29 on Paul Yong’s rape case, who was accused of raping his former Indonesian maid in 2019.
Judge Datuk Abdul Wahab Mohamed set the date for the decision on the rape case after hearing the submission from the prosecution and the defence team.
Abdul Wahab said the proceeding will begin at 10am.
Earlier, Yong’s counsel Datuk Rajpal Singh, who was accompanied by co-counsel Salim Bashir, submitted his argument by pointing out the prosecution team have failed to prove beyond reasonable the doubt in this case as he said the conduct of the victim did not reflect that she was raped.
“When the victim’s mother visited her after the alleged incident. The victim did not tell her mother about it. For me, if a daughter is raped, the first things she will do is hug her mother and cry and reveal to her what had happened to her.
“Instead, she told her mother that she wanted to return to Indonesia as there is ‘orang jahat’ (bad people) here. She didn’t say ‘majikan jahat’ (bad employer). Orang jahat could be anyone else. Maybe an imposter or from the political side, a conspiracy.
“Even in her own diary she did not write that she was raped, instead a day before the alleged incident she wrote ‘tunggu sahaja dan lihat‘ (wait and see). The words in the diary said as if she wants to teach a lesson to our client.
“Also the investigation officer and doctor said she was very alert, conscious and calm. And there is no DNA linking to the victim from the accused or his family were found in her vagina, body, clothing and bed sheets. The only DNA found was a mixed DNA on the floor, which did not belong to the accused nor his family,” he said.
Rajpal also pointed out the doctor who examined the victim, could not solidly established that the fresh tear in her vagina was due to a blunt male organ as she said it could also be due to masturbation or insertion of any other blunt objects.
He also said that the closed-circuit television (CCTV) recording in the housing area were not reliable as there is time difference and some visual in the recording were not clear.
He further submitted that Yong’s wife had testified that Yong was not alone in the house during the alleged incident as she said she heard him talking to his friend before leaving the house with his son.
“The wife also said that she saw Yong’s friend’s car was parked near their house when she was leaving the house,” he said.
“The wife also testified that she had sex with Yong after she return home. She also said she will not side with her husband if he really had raped the domestic worker,” he said.
On the issue raised on political conspiracy, Rajpal said the prosecution team failed to call the investigation officer to testify in the case.
“There were two reports made on the matter and the prosecution team did not call the investigation officer to testify or offered it to the defence team. Why was the investigation officer was not called by the prosecution team where it could at least clear the issue of political conspiracy in this case,” he said.
Meanwhile, state prosecution director Azlina Rashdi submitted her argument by saying that the testimony of Yong’s wife is consistent but not credible.
“She knows the husband is the sole provider in the family and all her children are studying in the college. If her husband is convicted in this case, she knows it will bring a big impact on her life,” she explained.
Azlina also said the victim was shy and scared to tell her mother about the incident when she met her.
“If the victim had planned all this, then there is no reason for her to ask the help of Yong’s driver to send her to Kuala Lumpur when she met him at the house the next day of the incident or call the Indonesian Embassy on this matter,” she said.
Yong was first charged in the Sessions Court here on August 23, 2019, when he was the state Housing, Local Government, Public Transport, Non-Islamic Affairs and New Villages Committee chairman.
He was charged under Section 376 (1) of the Penal Code, which carries a term of imprisonment of up to 20 years and is liable to whipping, if found guilty.
He pled not guilty to raping his Indonesian domestic helper at his house in Meru Desa Park on July 7, 2019 between 8.15pm and 9.15pm.
The case was mentioned in the Sessions Court but, on December 15 last year, the Federal Court allowed an application by the defence to transfer the case to the High Court.