KOTA KINABALU: A father of seven children was sentenced to 41 years imprisonment plus 24 strokes of the rotan for two counts of raping his own daughter.
The 46-year-old man pleaded guilty before Sessions Court judge Elsie Primus.
On the first count, the man was sentenced to 20 years jail plus 11 strokes of whipping for raping the 13-year-old girl on May 7, 2022 at 4.30pm at a house in the Kudat district.
On the second count, the accused received another 21 years imprisonment and 13 strokes of the rotan for committing a similar offence to the same victim on June 9, 2022, at 4.40pm at the same place.
The offences under Section 376 (3) of the Penal Code provide for a jail term of up to 30 years and whipping, upon conviction.
The court ordered the custodial sentences to run consecutively and for the accused to be placed under police supervision for three years thereafter.
According to the facts of the case, the victim had been raped by the accused since she was five, and the last incident was on June 9, 2022.
The victim did not tell anyone when she was first raped because she was just five and did not know that the father's action towards her was wrong.
The victim did try to fight, but the accused told her not to tell anyone about his act.
The girl suffered trauma due to the incidents and lost her focus in her studies.
The victim finally lodged a police report on June 21, 2022 after getting counselling from school as she did not want the same incident to happen in the future.
The accused was arrested at his workplace on the same day.
The investigation also revealed that the rapes occurred when the accused's wife went to work.
In mitigation, the unrepresented accused, who worked as a shrimp breeder, asked for leniency saying that he was remorseful and needed another chance to be devoted to his family.
In reply, deputy public prosecutor Tham Pou Jin urged for a deterrent sentence as the accused acted inhumanely.
"The accused took advantage of his biological daughter ever since the victim was five. The accused is married and has his own wife to satisfy his sexual desire. However, he was still unable to control his lust.
"The accused raped his own daughter and destroyed her self-worth and future," she said, adding that the accused might have continued to do so had she not reported it to the police.