MUAR: A father was sentenced by the Sessions Court today to 702 years' jail and 234 strokes of the rotan for rape and sexual assault of his two daughters over the last six years.
He will however serve a total of 42 years' jail and will receive a maximum of 24 strokes as per Section 288 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
The man, who pleaded guilty to 30 of the charges, committed the offences on his two children aged 12 and 15, as a result of which one of them became pregnant.
Out of the 30 charges leveled at the 53-year-old cleaner, 19 was for rape while the remaining 11 was outraging modesty of both children.
He was charged before judge Abu Bakar Manat while deputy public prosecutor Danial Munir prosecuted. He was unrepresented.
The court interpreter took almost an hour to read the charges.
The judge said that there was no factor that could be considered for the punishment of the accused because the victims were his own children and one of them was pregnant.
"The victim at that time was a child and the offences you committed were very serious. I hope that with this sentence, you will repent and learn from the mistakes that have been made.
"Taking into account your guilty plea, the court sentences you to 30 years in prison and 10 lashes for each charge of rape, 10 years in prison and two lashes for physical sexual assault and an additional sentence under Section 16 (1) of the Penal Code which is two years in prison and two lashes for each charge," he said.
"I accept the punishment for my actions," said the father.
The court ordered all prison sentences to be carried out concurrently starting from the date of the arrest on July 10, and the whipping to be carried out separately.
He will serve a total of 42 years' jail and will receive a maximum of 24 strokes as per Section 288 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
According to the charge sheets, the man was said to be carrying out the acts since 2017 when one of the victims was only 10 years old, with the recent incident on July 4 involving two separate locations in Jeram and Bakri here.
The charges were framed under Section 376 (3) of the Penal Code which carries 30 years maximum imprisonment and 10 strokes.
He was also charged under Section 14 (a) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017 which can be punished according to Section 14 and read together with Section 16 (1) of the same act which provides for a prison sentence of up to 20 years and can also be subject to whipping.
The facts also revealed that Hospital Pakar Sultanah Fatimah Muar medical officer lodged a report after one of the victims who went for chest pain was found to be pregnant.