KUCHING: The Sessions Court here today sentenced a labourer to 20 years’ imprisonment and 13 strokes of the cane for raping his 14-year-old daughter on multiple occasions, beginning in 2023.
The 37-year-old man pleaded guilty to the charges read before Judge Iris Awen Jon.
He committed the offences under Section 376(3) of the Penal Code, read together with Section 16(1) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act (SOACA) 2017.
During sentencing, the court ordered him to undergo counselling pursuant to Section 26 of SOACA 2017 and to be placed under police supervision after serving his sentence, pursuant to Section 27 of the same Act.
Under Section 376(3) of the Penal Code, if convicted, the punishment is imprisonment for up to 30 years, along with no fewer than 10 strokes of the cane.
Under Section 16(1) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act (SOACA) 2017, if convicted, the punishment is imprisonment for up to five years and no fewer than two strokes of the cane.
According to the charge, he committed the offence on Apr 1 at 12 am at a residence in Stampin here, where he raped his daughter.
Meanwhile, the facts of the case revealed that the victim had told her boyfriend that she had been repeatedly raped by her father, starting in 2023, when she was 11 years old.
The boyfriend immediately lodged a police report on Apr 3, and the accused was arrested the following day (Apr 4).
Investigations revealed that the accused forcibly committed the offence against his daughter on multiple occasions.
During the incident on Apr 1, the accused threatened the victim that if she did not comply, he would hurt her using a machete.
Medical examination revealed an “old hymenal tear” on the victim’s private part.
The accused was charged under Section 376(3) of the Penal Code, read together with Section 16(1) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act (SOACA) 2017, for being a person in a position of trust with the victim as her biological father, raping her without her consent while the victim was still a minor, and their relationship being one that is prohibited from marriage.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Asmawi Nur Haqim Mokhtar prosecuted, while the accused was unrepresented.
