PUTRAJAYA, Sept 22 — The Court of Appeal today upheld a 12-year prison sentence and five strokes of the cane imposed on a medium for the rape of a teacher during a purported ritual.
A three-member panel, chaired by Justice Datuk Azman Abdullah and comprising Justices Datuk Azmi Ariffin and Datuk Noorin Badaruddin, unanimously dismissed the appeal by EE Yong Nan against his conviction and sentence.
In delivering the court’s decision, Justice Azman held that the sentence was appropriate and not excessive, particularly given the breach of trust inherent in the accused’s role as a traditional healer.
EE, 32, was convicted by the Sessions Court in 2023 for raping a 25-year-old victim at a residence in Batang Kali, Hulu Selangor, at 8.30pm on March 30, 2018.
The same court also convicted and sentenced EE to eight months’ imprisonment for voluntarily causing hurt to the victim’s 26-year-old boyfriend at another location in Batang Kali around 2.00 am on April 4, 2018.
Both sentences were ordered to run concurrently.
The High Court dismissed EE’s appeal last year, upholding the Sessions Court’s decision. He subsequently appealed to the Court of Appeal solely against his conviction and sentence for rape, while leaving his conviction and prison term for the offence of voluntarily causing hurt unchallenged.
According to the facts of the case, the victim and her boyfriend, who lived in a rented house, reported repeated disturbances by unexplained phenomena, including the front grille door opening unexplainably, crockery falling mysteriously, crying sounds and other anomalous occurrences.
The couple was then introduced to EE, who purported to assist in cleansing the premises of spiritual disturbances. He initially provided his services gratuitously but later demanded payment after multiple visits.
On the date of the offence, EE arrived at the residence to conduct a ritual. Before commencing, he instructed the victim’s colleague and his wife to escort the boyfriend to a separate room, while he isolated the victim in a bedroom.
In late 2018, EE allegedly demanded RM50,000 from the couple, allowing them a period to procure the payment. He also took possession of the victim’s car and threatened to withhold its return pending full settlement. The couple then filed a police report.
Deputy public prosecutor Faizal @ Amrin Noor Hadi appeared for the prosecution, while EE was represented by counsel K A Ramu and his legal team. — Bernama
