KLUANG, May 27 — An unemployed man was sentenced to 18-years jail and six strokes of the cane by the Sessions Court here today after he pleaded guilty to raping his seven-year-old niece.

Judge Mujib Saroji ordered the man to serve the jail sentence from the date of his arrest, which was last May 15.

He was charged with raping the girl in the back room of a house in Simpang Renggam at 3.30pm last May 14.

In mitigation, the accused, who was unrepresented, apologised for his action.

In the same court, a proprietor of a car spare-part shop, Tan Chuang Loong, 32, was charged with murdering K. Ramachandran at a factory at Jalan Perindustrian Gemilang, Taman Perindustrian Gemilang, here between 2.50am and 4am last May 15.

However, no plea was recorded from Tan, represented by lawyer .Dr Abraham Mathew, as the case is under the jurisdiction of the High Court.

The court set June 17 for mention. — Bernama