Kota Kinabalu: A 47-year-old man who raped his 18-year-old daughter and later threatened to kill her if she disclosed the incident to others, was sent to prison for 16 years and ordered to get 10 strokes of the cane.
Sessions Court Judge Marlina Ibrahim handed down the sentence to the man who pleaded guilty to the charge against him.
He had raped the daughter at 7am on March 4, this year at a house in Beaufort.
The offence under section 376(3) of the Penal Code carries a jail term of between eight and 30 years, and whipping at least ten strokes, on conviction.
The court ordered the man to serve the jail sentence from the date of his arrest on March 5 this year and to be placed under police supervision for three years after completing the jail sentence.
During mitigation, the man who was not represented, asked for leniency saying that he regretted his wrongdoing.
However, Deputy Public Prosecutor DK Afiqah Alya urged the court to impose a deterrent sentence considering the seriousness of the case as the man is the biological father of the victim and that the victim was entitled for protection, care and security from the father. Instead, he used his position of dominance and trust within the family to commit the offence.
Afiqah said the victim had disclosed that several rape incidents had occurred prior to the last incident on March 4 this year and this reveals a pattern of repeated and sustained sexual abuse, not an isolated act.
She also submitted that the man had threatened to kill the victim if she disclosed the incident to anyone and was a calculated act to silence the child and prolong the abuse, and shows a high degree of culpability and disregard for the victim’s wellbeing.
The court heard that the man had forced the daughter to enter the room by pulling her hands before raping her at the room.
After the incident, the man had threatened to kill the daughter if she tell anyone about the incident.
The daughter had lodged a police report on the same day and following the report, the man was arrested the next day.
Investigation revealed that the man had previously raped her for few times before the last incident took place.
