KLANG – The sessions court here yesterday sentenced a man to 1,050 years in jail and 24 strokes of the cane.
Judge Datin M. Kunasundary handed down the sentence after he pleaded guilty to raping his 12-year-old stepdaughter 105 times over a period of two years.
She ordered the accused to serve 10 years in jail and two strokes of the cane for each rape charge, with the sentence to run consecutively from the date of his arrest on January 20.
Today’s proceedings took almost five hours as each charge was read out separately.
In passing sentence, Kunasundary said the offence was not only grave, but abominable and had blighted the child’s future.
“I hope you will repent while in prison. You should not have committed a violent act and although the punishment is minimum, the court feels this is sufficient by taking into account the number of charges against you,” she said.
The unemployed man was charged with committing incest by raping his stepdaughter at a house in Sg Way, Petaling, Selangor since January 5, 2018, until February 24, last year, under Section 376B of the Penal Code, which provides for a jail term of not less than 10 years and not exceeding 30 years, and whipping.
Earlier, deputy public prosecutor Nurul Qistini Qamarul Abrar urged the court to impose a heavy custodial sentence and the maximum strokes of the cane on the accused, taking into the account the public interest factor.
“The victim, in this case, was 12 years old when she was first raped by the accused, who then continued to rape her 105 times over a period of two years.
“As a stepfather of the victim, he should have been responsible for protecting the victim but instead, he destroyed her self-worth. His action will cause life-long trauma to the victim,” Qistini, who jointly prosecuted in the case with deputy public prosecutor Mohamad Afiq Zuber.
“Incest cases are appalling and condemnable offences, and viewed seriously by every level of society, regardless of religion.
“The action of the accused is akin to haruan makan anak (a snakehead fish eating its own fry) and viewed seriously by the general public, which is not just against the law but against religious teachings as well,” said Qistini, who then urged the court to have the sentences run consecutively.
The accused, who was unrepresented, did not appeal with regard to sentencing.
Based on the facts of the case, the victims’ biological parents divorced in 2015 and the mother married the accused in November 2016.
During the incidents, only the victim and the accused were in the house and she had never told anyone of the rapes as the accused had threatened and hit her.
The girl only revealed the incidents after her mother brought her and her younger sister to their aunt’s house. – Bernama, January 28, 2021
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