KOTA KINABALU: A man who raped his 12-years-old daughter twice was sentenced by the Sessions Court here to 26 years' jail and 20 strokes of the rotan.
The victim was 22 weeks pregnant when a police report was lodged by a medical staff.
The 48-year-old man pleaded guilty to two charges before judge Azreena Aziz.
On the first count, he raped his daughter in January at 10am in a bedroom of a house in a village in Sipitang district.
On the second count, he raped the victim again in February at 12 noon at a farmhouse in the same village.
Both offences under Section 376 (3) of the Penal Code provide for punishment up to 30 years' jail and a minimum of 10 strokes, upon conviction.
The court imposed 13 years imprisonment plus 10 strokes for each charge.
The man was also ordered to be placed under police supervision for two years after completing the jail sentence.
The court heard that on July 21 a medical staff member who was on duty at a health clinic in Sipitang saw a young female patient (the victim) who claimed that she was coughing, vomiting, and having a stomach ache.
After an examination was conducted, the victim tested positive for pregnancy with an estimated gestational age of 22 weeks.
The complainant then made a police report and referred the victim to the Sipitang hospital's emergency unit for further action.
Further investigations revealed that the victim was raped by her biological father twice.
During mitigation, the unrepresented accused asked for leniency saying that he needs to take care of his unwell elderly mother and family in the village.
Deputy public prosecutor Dk Afiqah Alya Ak Johari urged the court to impose a severe punishment taking into consideration the seriousness of the case and the relationship between the accused and the victim.
She added that the man was married and had a wife but he still could not control his lust.