KUCHING, Oct 24 — The Sessions Court here today sentenced a self-employed carpenter to 12 years in jail and 10 strokes of the rotan for raping his then 12-year-old daughter three years ago.

Judge Jason Juga found the prosecution had proven the case beyond reasonable doubt against the 45-year-old at the end of the defence’s case.

He also ruled for the jail sentence to take effect from today.

According to the re-amended charge framed under Section 376(3) of the Penal Code, the man committed the offence at Batu Kawa here between June 1 and 30, 2019.

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In mitigation, the man through his counsel Fung Lee Fook appealed for a lenient sentence as he is a single parent with two daughters, now aged 15 and 12.

“On November 16, 2014, an accident occurred while he was working whereby he fell down the roof causing fractures to his ribs.

“From then on, he was unable to continue working and thereby had lost his income to support his family. Fortunately, he managed to obtain his insurance claims from two companies for his injuries from the said accident,” said Fung.

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He said the man also applied to the Welfare Department for assistance and was categorised as disabled (OKU).

“This assistance was subsequently withheld after the accused had been charged in court and the claim sum from the two insurance companies had since then almost been used up,” said Fung.

Deputy public prosecutor Norshafatihah Nor Azmi requested for a deterrent sentence on the grounds of the gravity, rampancy of the case, and the seriousness of the offence which has traumatised the victim.

She pointed out the victim has had to bear the consequences of her father’s act, where she became a mother at such a young age.

It is understood that a police report was lodged by a doctor who discovered that the girl was pregnant.

Both the victim and her sister are now under the care of the Welfare Department.

The case saw eight prosecution witnesses and one defence witness — the father himself — called to testify. — Borneo Post