21-2-2024 (WELLINGTON) A 30-year-old Malaysian man, whose identity remains protected to safeguard the victim’s rights, has been handed a sentence of five years and nine months in a New Zealand court after being found guilty of sexually assaulting his sleeping partner and kidnapping her during a road trip.
The accused arrived in New Zealand in March 2020 and has been in custody for over a year, awaiting trial for a series of incidents dating back to July 2021. Additionally, he breached a protection order twice by contacting the victim while on bail.
According to details presented in The New Zealand Herald, the court established that the woman did not provide consent during a sexual encounter on the morning of July 1, 2021, leading to the rape charge. Subsequently, during a later road trip, she was forcibly detained in a car, resulting in the kidnapping charge.
The man’s lawyer, Lee Lee Heah, revealed that his client had arrived in New Zealand on a working visa in March 2020 and developed a relationship with the complainant in April 2021. By mid-2021, the couple was residing in the Tasman region after relocating from the North Island for seasonal work.
The incident occurred in a rented room where the couple was staying for a job interview in Nelson. The accused claimed he had taken the day off work to drive her, waking her up in what he described as a “romantic way.” The woman asserted she did not consent to the sexual encounter and resisted the advances.
Reported by NZ Herald, on another occasion, the woman reluctantly engaged in sexual activity with the defendant “out of duty” even when she did not desire it.
In November 2021, during a ferry trip from Wellington to Picton, the man discovered evidence of an alleged affair on the woman’s phone while she slept. A subsequent argument ensued, leading to the cancellation of a planned whale-watching trip in Kaikoura due to adverse weather conditions.
The woman, wanting to return to Nelson, called the police from the car as the man drove towards Christchurch. About 10km into the journey, she realized their direction, began yelling, and alerted the authorities. The police, using the woman’s cellphone, located and stopped the vehicle.
In February 2022, the woman reported the incidents to the police, resulting in the issuance of a temporary protection order with conditions prohibiting any contact from the accused. In September of the same year, the man pleaded guilty to breaching the protection order and attempting to pervert the course of justice by urging the woman to withdraw her complaint.
