Filipino gets eight years, 10 strokes for attempting to rape stepdaughter

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KOTA KINABALU: A Filipino labourer was jailed eight years and ordered to be given 10 strokes of the cane by the Sessions Court here yesterday for attempting to rape his stepdaughter.

Judge Azreena Aziz imposed the sentence on the 21-year-old accused after he pleaded guilty to trying to insert his penis into the vagina of the 15-year-old victim in the room of a house at a village in Kota Belud on December 9, 2013.

He was charged under Section 376 (3) of the Penal Code, read together with Section 511 of the same Code, which provides for a maximum jail of 10 years and whipping, upon conviction.

Meanwhile, the accused will stand trial on December 10–12 for another charge of raping the same victim at the same place on March 18.

In pleading for a light sentence, the accused said he felt remorseful and still has a family under his care.

Deputy public prosecutor Chow Siang Kong pressed for a deterrent sentence taking into account that this offence is rampant.

The prosecution also tendered the impact statement of the victim who stated that she felt not safe in their house when the accused was around.

She said she was stressed seeing her mother and her other siblings always being beaten by the accused.

During the day of the incident she recalled that the accused had entered her room while she was sleeping.

The accused and her mother, who is a local, got married in September, 2013.

The court also ordered the accused to be referred to the Immigration Department after serving sentence for deportation as he has no valid travel document.

It was learnt that the accused had also been sentenced to jail for entering the state illegally.

In a separate case, a local private taxi driver will be tried on December 4–5 for allegedly raping his daughter on three occasions.

On the first to third count, the 64-year-old accused was alleged to have raped his daughter, aged 39, at the room of a house in a village in Putatan on July 10, August 25 and September 13.

The prosecution will produce seven witnesses to testify against the accused, who was ordered to be held in custody pending disposal of the case.