SINGAPORE, March 5 — A Singaporean man was sentenced to 17 and half years’ jail and 16 strokes of the cane today for sexually abusing his teenage daughter over three years.
Justice Dedar Singh Gill presided over the sentencing after the 40-year-old pleaded guilty to four charges, with nine further offences taken into consideration, The Straits Times reported.
The abuse began in 2017 when the victim was just 13, escalating from inappropriate touching to penetrative sexual acts, and continued until September 2020.
The man typically crept into his daughter’s bedroom after the rest of the family had fallen asleep.
Gill denounced the man’s apparent tendency to prioritise his own sexual gratification while minimising the trauma inflicted on the victim.
The judge noted that the man’s remark — that “it takes two hands to clap” — implied the victim bore responsibility for the abuse.
A psychiatric report indicated the offender rationalised his conduct and discounted the harm caused to his child.
The victim had written her father a letter begging him to stop, describing how he had shattered her heart “into millions of pieces.”
The abuse only came to light when the victim told her mother, who confronted the man; he was arrested the same day after surrendering to police.
The charges were eventually reduced from rape to exploitative sexual penetration of a minor as part of a plea deal.
