ALOR STAR: A labourer here was sentenced to 15 years' jail and four strokes of the rotan for raping his 14-year-old stepdaughter last year.
Sessions Court judge Najwa Che Mat meted out the sentence after the 33-year-old man pleaded guilty to the offence on Monday morning.
She ordered the jail sentence to begin from the date of his arrest on Oct 18, last year.
The man, who married the girl’s mother in 2008, was accused of committing the offence in Sept last year at about 11pm, at a house in Bukit Lada, Pokok Sena.
He was charged under Section 376B of the Penal Code which provides for a maximum jail term of 30 years and whipping.
Najwa said that the offence committed by the man was serious, as it involves an underage girl who also happens to be his stepdaughter.
“It is a serious offence by law and religion because you had married the girl’s mother, yet you committed such a sick act on the girl,” she said.
Earlier, deputy public prosecutor Rehab Abdul Shukur asked the court to impose a heavier penalty on the accused, considering the seriousness of his offence.
She said as a stepfather, the man should have been the girl’s protector.
“The victim is still traumatised by the incident and feels too ashamed to meet people," she added.
In his mitigation, the man said that he has two other children from his marriage to the victim’s mother.