SHAH ALAM - A woman who was kidnapped and raped eight years ago turned up at the High Court yesterday for the sentencing of her attackers.

The 26-year-old accounts clerk, who wore a pair of jeans and a black blouse, slipped quietly into the courtroom and left after the three assailants were sentenced to life imprisonment and ordered to be whipped.

The three -- technician Norazly Alias, 30; clerk Norlizan Miswan, 29; and salesman Arwin Ahmad, 35 -- pleaded guilty at the end of prosecution's case where 11 witnesses testified.

They admitted to kidnapping the then 18-year-old part-time student at Bulatan Melawati, Shah Alam, and demanding a ransom of S$106,000 from her family in November 2002.

Her nightmare began when she was involved in a minor collision with another car that had hit her from behind.

She was grabbed and bundled into the other car as soon as she stepped out to inspect the damage to her car.

She was taken to Johor Baru where she was repeatedly raped by the three, who had also demanded a ransom of RM250,000 from her family.

Her parents banked in RM10,000 into her account, which she was forced to withdraw before she was brought back to a house in Shah Alam where police rescued her.

Norazly and Arwin pleaded guilty to raping her at a house in Jalan Sri Perkasa 2/6, Taman Tampoi Utara, in Tampoi, Johor Baru, between 12.30am and 8am on Nov 21, 2002.

Norlizan pleaded guilty to raping her at a house in Jalan Pertanian, Taman Desa Rahmat, Tampoi, between 4am and 6am on Nov 25, 2002.

Counsel V. Rajehgopal, who represented Norazly, said his client was the eldest child in the family and had to take care of his siblings.

Counsel V. Ayasamy, who represented Norlizan, said that this was his client's first offence and that he had since repented.

Counsel Sreekant Pillai represented Arwin.

Eleven witnesses testified in the trial.

Deputy public prosecutor Alfred Egin said the offence was very serious even for a first offender, adding that the incident had left the victim emotionally and physically scarred.

Judge Datuk Mohd Zaki Md Yasin chided the trio for "throwing their lives away".

He said that as the eldest in their families, they should have set good examples for their siblings.

Zaki sentenced all three to life imprisonment and five strokes of the rotan for kidnapping.

Norazly and Arwin were also sentenced to 20 years' jail and 10 strokes each for two counts of rape while Norizan was sentenced to 10 years' jail and five strokes of the rotan.