Man gets 40 years, 20 strokes for raping stepdaughter By Safrah Mat Salleh

KOTA KINABALU: A 45year-old father was yesterday sentenced to 40 years in jail and ordered to be whipped 20 times for raping his stepdaughter.

Judge Ainul Shahrin Mohamed imposed the sentence on the accused yesterday after he was found guilty on two counts of raping the girl.

The indictment provides for a jail term of up to 30 years and whipping of not less than 10 strokes of the cane under Section 376 (3) of the Penal Code, upon conviction.

On the first count, the man was sentenced to 20 years in jail and 10 strokes of the cane for raping the 12-year-old girl in a house at Manggatal here in December 2015.

On the second count, he received another 20 years’ jail plus 10 strokes of the cane for raping the same person at the same place in February 2016.

The court also ordered for the jail sentence to run consecutively.

In mitigation, the father, who was represented by counsel PJ Perira, told the court that this was his client’s first offence.

He also said that his client had cooperated with the police throughout the detention period and prayed for a lenient sentence.

Prosecuting officer Chief Inspector Lim Swee Beng replied that the accused had committed a serious and heinous crime.

Lim said that regardless of the victim’s age, she was traumatized due to the incident.

Therefore, he urged the court to impose a severe punishment on the accused, including whipping, to serve as a lesson.

Lim stood in for deputy public prosecutor Hafiza Zahidah Abdullah.