Twitterjaya: Statutory rape is no child's play

Netizens react with disgust and disbelief after the sessions court in Penang spared a 22-year-old man from jail on finding him guilty of statutory rape of a 12-year-old girl.

The judgment has since come under great criticism from all sides, especially social media, with many still scrambling to digest the idea that a 12-year-old could consent to sexual intercourse, and on top of that, that the argument holds up in court.

This comes just weeks after the controversial case involving the national bowler with a "bright future", Nor Afizal Azizan, who escaped jail despite being convicted of statutory rape of a 13-year-old girl.

Here's a collection of posts on social media reacting to the judgment:

TuanHock Liew: Funny how back in 1999, consensual anal sex warranted a prison sentence of nine years! The victim was not underaged, nor retarded, not drugged, or threatened with weapon.

Didie Gonzales: No to sodomy, but yes to rape. Bravo Malaysia.

Soo Ching Pin: The country is dependent on electricity. Therefore, all electricians have bright futures.

Nicholas Jeffery: Welcome to Malaysia, a country that lets you walk free after engaging in sexual intercourse with underage girls.

Carol Yong: And we ask why the crime rate is so high. Criminals are so daring nowadays because (you) can get away with it.

Mustaqim Abdul Rahman: This is the law - if you are guilty, you can get away scot-free; if innocent, you can be imprisoned and worse, hanged to death. The question and focus now is not on the past, but how to prevent this from happening again.

Jegatheesan Muniandy: If this is the sentence, it is not necessary to do LLB (Bachelor of Law).

Are Lhong: Welcome to the pedophile country, 1Pedophile.

Joshua Chai: How does a 12-year-old girl know what's right and wrong at that age? Talk about love, when it can be all due to lust.

Singh Sidhu: It sounds like a green light for all those perverts out there to (have sexual intercourse) with an underage girl. Good job, Malaysia!

Sam Tuck Fatt: Where is the minister of law and minister of women, family and community development? What's your role in defending the law and the infant?

Andrew Chan: Parents of daughters, beware! We are returning to the Middle Ages where women's and children's rights are irrelevant. Get them a chastity belt!

Ho Sook Wah: What a load of bull! This is an outright violation of a young girl's (rights). The law was instituted to protect young vulnerable girls, now the men are protected.

Farani Mustafa: (Do) Malaysian courts have soft spots for paedophiles?

Yap C Seng: Judges do not know what is the meaning of statutory rape. They need to go back to law school to understand that in statutory rape, consent is irrelevant.

Joanne Michelle: Anything can happen in Bolehland. Shameful.

Chia Weng Yan: An electrician gets to rape once. Imagine those with PhDs. I don't even want to mention datuks and ministers. (emoticon: rolls eyes)

Heavenly Trail: There (is) something seriously wrong with the judicial trend. Underaged girls must be protected at all cost, even if they consent.

Cynthia Hor: Unless he (the accused) was insane, this is a tad too much. Our criminal justice system has gone to the dogs.