Kota Kinabalu: A 46-year-old man, who raped his stepdaughter, was sentenced to 21 years in jail and given 12 strokes of the cane.
Sessions Court Judge Elsie Primus handed the sentence to the man after making the decision at the end of defence stage and ruling that the prosecution had proven its case beyond reasonable doubt against the accused on Friday.
The man was found guilty of raping the 11-year-old stepdaughter at 1.57pm on Dec 30, 2021 at a house in Inanam.
He was convicted of the offence under Section 376(3) of the Penal Code for committing incest, which provides for a jail term of between eight and 30 years and whipping of at least 10 strokes, on conviction.
The court ordered the man to serve the jail sentence from the date of his conviction but granted his application to stay execution of the sentence.
But the man must file the notice of appeal by today (June 14).
Additionally, the court ordered the man to be placed under police supervision for three years pursuant to the Section 295 (1A) Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) as well as to undergo a rehabilitative counselling within the period of his detention under section 295A of the CPC.
Seven prosecution and four defence witnesses had been called to testify during the hearing.
Begging for a minimum sentence, counsel Nurul Rafeeqa Afdul Mutolip who was just appointed on the day of the decision, told the court that it was the man’s first offence and had no previous conviction record.
According to Nurul, the man had apologised to the daughter and his family.
She added that despite of the case, the man also had performed his responsibility by supporting his wife and the victim, financially.
In reply, Deputy Public Prosecutor Nurul Shafeerah Mad Iskim urged the court to impose the heaviest sentence on the man.
“This is in consideration of the fact that the man had wasted the court’s time as the trial has been ongoing for so long. The witnesses brought forward by the man did not have any relevance to the case and further delayed the trial.
“The law was made to protect children below 16 years of age from sexual exploitation by someone who is clearly influential against the child, and/or someone who has familial relationship with the victim, hence the minimum eight years imprisonment punishment under section 376(3) of the Penal Code,” said Shafeerah.
She further submitted that even though the man had sought apology from the victim, the trauma would forever remain as a dark chapter in the victim’s life.
Shafeerah emphasised that a heavy punishment would also act as a deterrent to others because the prosecution submitted that victims, especially children, must at all costs be protected by the law against any offence, especially sexual offence.
