33 years, 12 strokes for man who raped daughters

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KOTA KINABALU: A local labourer will spend 33 years behind bars and ordered to be given 12 strokes of the rattan after he admitted to two counts of raping his own daughters three months ago.

The deputy registrar of the High Court, Zaini Fishir @ Fisal who sat as a Sessions Court judge, meted out the sentence on the 47-year-old father of eight children, who was charged under Section 376 (3) of the Penal Code.

The offence carries a jail term of between eight and 30 years and also liable to whipping upon conviction.

On the first count, the unrepresented accused was sentenced to 15 years’ jail and ordered to be given six strokes of the cane for raping his 13-year-old daughter in an empty house at a village in Kota Marudu at 7pm on May 31.

For the second count of raping his disabled child aged 14 at the same place at 12pm on June 4, he was handed down another 18 years’ imprisonment and ordered to be whipped six times.

The court ordered the accused, who hails from Kota Marudu, to serve his jail terms consecutively from June 10 this year.

The facts of the first case stated the accused and his daughter were on their way home after he fetched his daughter from her work place.

As they reached the empty house, the accused hugged his daughter from the back. The daughter shouted for help but was prevented by the accused, who then raped her.

The second occasion was when the accused raped his disabled daughter at the same place but investigation revealed that he was drunk during the commission of the offence.

Prosecuting officer ASP Sabrina Jinius informed the court that the medical reports of both victims showed that there were tears on their respective vaginas.

In mitigation yesterday, the accused pleaded for a lighter sentence saying that his children needed him as his wife is a housewife with no source of income.

The prosecution urged the court to impose a heavy sentence as the crimes committed were serious.

Jinius submitted that as a father, the accused was supposed to protect his own daughters and not to rape them, adding that one of the victims is a disabled girl.