Crime & Courts

Man gets 20 years, 10 lashes for raping teen daughter

KOTA KINABALU: An unemployed man was sentenced to 20 years' jail and 10 strokes of the cane by the Sessions Court here for raping his 15-year-old daughter.

The 42-year-old man pleaded guilty before judge Egusra Ali to committing the offence in April last year at 7am at a house in a village in Labuan.

The offence under Section 376B(1) of the Penal Code provides imprisonment for a term of not less than 10 years and not more than 30 years, and shall also be liable to whipping, upon conviction.

Based on the facts of the case, the incident came to light during a counselling session in school.

Throughout the counselling session, the victim told the complainant that she had been raped by her biological father since she was 10 years old.

The victim said she was raped more than 15 times in the living room of their house.

The victim in her testimony also disclosed that her father had no job and had taken syabu.

The complainant informed the victim's mother about the matter and handed over the rest of the action to the school. A police report was then lodged which led to the man's arrest.

In mitigation, the unrepresented accused merely asked for leniency.

In reply, deputy public prosecutor Suriyati Jumain urged for a deterrent sentence.

"When a father rapes his daughter and is convicted in court, any sentence passed must reflect the abhorrence of society to such a hideous and despicable act.

"A sufficiently strong and effective signal must be sent out to would-be rapists that the court would not hesitate to come down hard on them to protect naive, helpless, and innocent children," she said.

She added children have placed unconditional trust, faith, loyalty, and confidence in their fathers to be role models as well as a pillar of strength and protection at all times, only to see their lives shattered, humiliated and traumatised by an act of lust.

The accused will serve his custodial sentence from the date of arrest on Dec 7, 2021.

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