BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

A 22-YEAR-OLD Bruneian man was sentenced to serve 17 years in jail and 12 strokes of the cane after he admitted to robbery and the rape of a foreign exchange student at a Tutong school hostel.

Justice Pg Hjh Rostaina Pg Hj Duraman in delivering her verdict yesterday said that while the court considers Yurawandy Bujang’s guilty plea as a strong mitigating factor in his favour, the court could not ignore the number of aggravating factors surrounding the case.

The court said both victims are foreign students who chose to come to Brunei on a teaching internship programme, and the incident had caused the suspension of the programme, which she described as a great loss.

“The court cannot ignore the aggravating factor from the moment you enter the premises you had a knife and used it to threaten both victims, put them in fear of their lives and took the opportunity to not only rob them, but also rape one of them,” said Justice Rostaina.

The defendant had also tied up Miss X’s colleague with a computer cable and made her fear for her life, before raping Miss X.

“You had forced her to have intercourse with you, she suffered pain, still traumatised by what happened to her and is undergoing therapy with a psychologist,” said the court.

The court took into consideration the overall gravity of the offence and the likely long-term psychological effects on the victims.

In the court statement submitted by deputy public prosecutor Hjh Rozaimah Hj Abd Rahman, it was stated that the incident happened when the 22-year-old defendant had intended to break into the school canteen before noticing a stairwell that led to the hostel.

The defendant was unable to enter the first hostel room as it was locked, but he found two young women in another room. Yurawandy immediately took out a knife and told them to be quiet.

The statement added that as the women were trembling in fear, the defendant took the opportunity to rob them.

It was at the kitchen that the defendant raped Miss X before fleeing the hostel and threatening the victim “not to do anything stupid”. The women then ran out of the hostel and headed towards the Tutong Police Station.

Before the rape incident, Yurawandy had also stolen a Toyota Corolla car in Belait that he used to drive to Tutong on September 26.

The statement further said the defendant had planned to buy fishing bait in Tutong as he wanted to go on a fishing trip at Sungai Liang Kecil in Belait.

When the defendant went to a WYWY shop in the late hours to buy a drink, the shop assistant told him they were unable to sell any drinks. Yurawandy then noticed the Tutong school canteen located near the WYWY shop, but was unable to open its window and failed to break into the school.

Yurawandy was arrested on September 29 in his car together with the stolen items and a backpack containing a knife. Police investigations led to Yurawandy admitting to the robbery and rape of Miss X. He further admitted to selling some of the stolen items for cash, which was later used to buy drugs.

The Brunei Times