Kota Kinabalu: A 38-year-old Indonesian who raped his stepdaughter more than 50 times since she was 10, was jailed 26 years and ordered given two strokes of the cane.
Sessions Court Judge Noor Hafizah Mohd Salim meted out the sentence to the man who changed plea during trial and admitted to two charges against him.
On the first count, the man was jailed 13 years plus a stroke of the cane for raping the victim when she was 12 at the end of February 2018 at a worker’s house in Kimanis, Papar.
On the second count, he was jailed another 13 years and ordered to get a stroke of the cane for raping the same victim when she was 16 in early December 2021 at 2pm at the same place.
The offence under Section 376(1) of the Penal Code carries a jail term of up to 20 years, and whipping, on conviction.
The court ordered the man to serve the jail sentences consecutively from the date of his arrest on Dec 11, 2021.
During mitigation, the man who was not represented, asked for leniency saying that he came from a poor family and that he has children to look after in the country as well as in Indonesia.
However, Deputy Public Prosecutor Dacia Jane Romanus urged the court to impose a deterrent sentence on the grounds that the man had committed a serious offence.
She added that the victim was his stepdaughter who should be protected by the man instead of raping her.
The court heard that the man had raped the victim more than 50 times but she only remembered the two incidents.
The first incident occurred in February 2018 when the victim’s mother was at work. During the incident, the man asked the victim to go to the bedroom, lay down and take off her clothes before raping her.
After committing the rape, the man had threatened to hit her if she reveal the incident.
The second incident was in December 2021 when the victim was coming home from school. The man asked to do the same thing and after raping her, also threatened the victim.
Investigation revealed that the man and the victim’s mother married in 2011 but their marriage was not registered in Malaysia.
Following a police report, the man was arrested and the victim was referred to Hospital Wanita & Kanak-Kanak for further examination and the report showed that there was old tear on her hymen.
