SANDAKAN: A 50-year-old man has been sentenced to an effective 21 years in jail and 25 strokes of the cane for raping and sexually assaulting his teenage daughter.
The unrepresented man was convicted by the Sandakan Sessions Court on Tuesday (July 28) of committing the offences against the 15-year-old girl.
Sessions Court judge Roslinda Razali sentenced him to 20 years in jail from the date of his arrest and 18 strokes of the cane for rape under Section 376(3) of the Penal Code.
For physically sexually assaulting the girl, he was sentenced to seven years in jail from the date of his arrest and five strokes of the cane under Section 14(a) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017.
The 20-year and seven-year prison terms were ordered to run concurrently.
The court also imposed an additional one-year jail term and two strokes of the cane under Section 16(1) of the same Act, which provides for enhanced punishment when the offender is in a position of trust over the child, such as a parent, guardian or teacher.
The additional jail term will run consecutively after the completion of the other sentences, bringing the total effective sentence to 21 years.
According to the facts of the case, the offences occurred at an unnumbered house in Batu 21 here at about 3am on March 1.
The victim was asleep in the living room when the man attacked her.
Her mother attempted to intervene but was assaulted by the man, leaving her frightened and unable to stop him.
The victim lodged a police report the following day.
Investigations, including witness statements and DNA analysis, confirmed that the man was the victim’s biological father.
Deputy public prosecutor Yuvan Bharathan prosecuted, while Insp Nor Hanani Hashim was the investigating officer.
