SIBU: A 40-year-old ex-soldier was today (April 28) sentenced by the Sessions Court to a total of 54 years’ jail for three charges of having raped his teenage daughter. The court also ordered that he be given 30 strokes of the cane.
Judge Marutin Pagan imposed a jail sentence of 18 years plus 10 strokes of whipping for each charge.
He ordered the jail sentence to run from the date of his arrest on April 21.
The accused pleaded no contest to the charges preferred against him, and he understood the consequences of maintaining his plea of guilt.
In the first charge, he was accused of raping his daughter when she was 15 years and 10 months old. The offence was committed at about 3 am last March 11.
The second and third charges stated that he raped her again at 3 am on March 26 and about the same time on April 1.
Each of the above charges was framed under Section 376 of the Penal Code. Section 376(3) of the same code provides for imprisonment of between eight and 30 years plus whipping of no fewer than 10 strokes.
The accused also pleaded guilty to four charges of touching the body of the victim for sexual purposes.
The charges mentioned that he committed the offences on four occasions at 10 am on March 11, 3 am on March 11, 3 am on March 26 and 3 am on April 1.
Marutin sentenced him to three years imprisonment and one stroke of whipping for each charge under Section 14(a) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017 which provides for imprisonment not exceeding 20 years and whipping.
Marutin ordered the imprisonment sentence to run from April 21 when the accused was arrested.
Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Heng Yi Min, told the court that on April 12 about 1.20 pm the girl told one of her teachers that she had been raped by her father. The teacher (who subsequently became the complainant) then lodged a police report.
About 10 pm on April 21, policemen from Saratok led by Inspector Henry Muji arrested the accused for questioning.
The investigation revealed that the complainant was indeed a teacher of the victim who was a boarding student since she was in Form 1.
DPP Heng further told the court that as indicated on the relevant birth certificate, the accused is the victim’s biological father.
When the complainant took the victim to see the school counsellor, the victim recalled that she was raped by her father on March 11, March 26 and April 1.
She also revealed that her father had touched her body for sexual purposes between 3 am and 10 am on March 11, March 26, and April 1.
Subsequently, she was medically examined and was confirmed to have suffered “old hymenal tears at 4 o’clock position to 8 o’clock position”.
In mitigation, the rapist, who was not represented by a legal counsel, pleaded for leniency, saying he was old and sick and had no one to take care of him.
He said he was full of remorse for having committed the offences.
“I promise not to commit the same offences in the future. If I am given a second chance, I will be a good husband and a good father. I pray for leniency regarding my custodial sentence,” he implored.
In reply, DPP Heng asked for a deterrent sentence.
He said the man had lost the spirit of safeguarding society and his own family.
“This is a case in which the offender had taken advantage of his dominant position as the biological father to rape the victim.
“This is a clear abuse of trust. We humbly pray for a deterrent sentence to reflect the stiffness of the law in Malaysia to safeguard the interests of minor sexual victims.”
In passing sentence, Marutin took into consideration the facts of the case, the accused’s guilty plea, mitigation plea, and public interest.
