SANDAKAN: A labourer raped a 15-year-old girl whom he befriended through SMS.

The Form Three student told police that she made friends with the 25-year-old man through SMS some time ago. After exchanging SMSes, he asked her out.

He fetched the girl from her school in Jalan Labuk on June 25 and proceeded to his house in an oil palm plantation where he allegedly raped her.

The man threatened the girl not to say anything to anybody.

However, her family found out and brought her to the police station to lodge a report. She was referred to the Duchess of Kent Hospital for a medical examination.

Sandakan police deputy chief Supt Fadzil Mohd Ali said the man had been detained for investigation under Section 376 of the Penal Code.