[Top: Civajanam (left) and the juvenile being led away after sentencing for abduction, rape and armed robbery.]

SHAH ALAM, Malaysia: He said he was drunk on whisky and claimed in his defence that it was his intoxicated state that led him and his companion, a teenager, to abduct a nurse, rape her and rob her before letting her go after a futile attempt to get a ransom for her from her father.

The High Court did not buy his defence, and Civajanam Subramanian, 29, was sentenced to 28 years in jail and eight strokes of the rotan for the abduction, rape and armed robbery committed six years ago

His juvenile accomplice, now 20 years old, was ordered to remain in prison till he reached the age of 21.

In throwing out Civajanam's defence that he was intoxicated, judicial commissioner Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim said: "He must, at least, show that he was forced to drink and, as a result, acted recklessly. But, the whisky bottle was found in his car.

"Rape, abduction and armed robbery should not be taken lightly, especially given the circumstances of this case. Society is already crying out that enough is enough."

Civajanam and the teenager were jointly charged with abducting the 19-year-old nurse after crashing into her car at a traffic light junction in Sungai Pelong and raping the nurse in the back seat of their Proton Saga near a car park in Jalan Alfa 9/5, Kampung Baru Subang 2, here between 11.30pm on July 17, 2003, and 2.30am the next day.

They were also charged with committing armed robbery and using a parang to threaten the girl.

According to the facts of the case, the nurse was on her way home after work at 10pm when her car was hit from behind by a Proton Saga driven by Civajanam.

Civajanam then drove in front of her car and blocked it, while his teenage accomplice got down and threatened the nurse with a parang, blaming her for the accident.

The nurse insisted that it was not her fault and told them to call her father as she lived nearby, but they tied her up and forced her into their car.

They drove her to an industrial area where Civajanam raped her and then the juvenile.

After they were done with her, they called her father. They demanded a ransom of RM10,000 and asked him to meet them at the Sungai Buloh train station.

However, when her cousin showed up at the station empty-handed because her father had yet to raise the ransom amount, they sped off. A chase ensued.

Civajanam and the boy eventually dumped the girl at a housing area in Jinjang, leaving her by the roadside in her underwear and sweater. Her uniform was discarded by the two elsewhere.

The police picked her up and sent her to University Malaya Medical Centre to be treated.

Civajanam and the boy were subsequently arrested and they claimed trial when they were charged in August 2003.

Last October, midway through the trial, they pleaded guilty.

Yesterday at sentencing, none of their family members or friends was present in court.

Civajanam was represented by counsel Puan Sri N. Saraswathy Devi and R. Alegandra, while counsel Imran Hadzalie Abdul Hamid represented the teenager.

The case was prosecuted by deputy public prosecutor Muhammad Iskandar Ahmad.-- The New Straits Times / Asia News Network