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KOTA KINABALU: A 25-year-old man was sentenced to a total of 26 years’ jail and 20 strokes of the cane by the Sessions Court here on Thursday after pleading guilty to two charges of raping his younger sister in Ranau.

The accused told the court during mitigation that there had been discussions within the family to cover up the case but the effort was unsuccessful, and he asked for a lighter sentence citing concerns about his future and family shame.

Sessions Court Judge Hurman Hussain sentenced him to 13 years’ jail and 10 strokes of the cane for raping the 14-year-and-eight-month-old victim at about noon in mid-January 2025 in a room of a house in a village in Ranau.

For the second offence, committed between 8pm and 9pm during the same period beneath the same house, the court imposed another 13 years’ jail and 10 strokes of the cane and ordered the sentences to run consecutively from the date of arrest.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Fazriel Fardiansyah Abdul Kadir had urged the court to impose a heavy sentence due to the seriousness of the offence and the victim’s age, adding that the victim lodged a police report herself and that the charge under Section 376(3) of the Penal Code carries a jail term of between eight and 30 years and whipping upon conviction.