KUALA TERENGGANU - The Sessions Court here, today, sentenced a man to 36 years in prison and 40 strokes of the cane, for raping and sexually assaulting his underage niece.
Judge Mohd Zul Zakiqudin Zulkifli, meted out the punishment to the 44-year-old man after he pleaded guilty to all five charges.
The court sentenced him to 10 years in prison for one count of rape; eight years in prison each for the other three counts of rape, with 40 strokes of the cane; another two years in prison and two years of police supervision, for a sexual assault offence.
The judge ordered all prison terms to run separately and ordered the accused to receive a maximum of 24 strokes of the cane under the Criminal Procedure Code.
Mohd Zul Zakiqudin said that the court meted out the sentence after taking into account the repeated offences, the accused's relationship with the victim and the accused's guilty plea which saved the court time.
According to the charge sheet, the man was accused to have raped the victim, who was 14 years old at that time, four times, in January, February, March and May 2023, in two separate locations, namely at a restaurant and a house in Losong, here.
The father of two was charged under Section 376 (3) of the Penal Code, which provides for a prison sentence of up to 30 years and not less than 10 strokes of the cane.
He was also accused of committing physical sexual assault, against the same victim in the same house, in December last year, and the charge was framed under Section 14(a) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017.
Deputy public prosecutor Intan Nor Hilwani Mat Rifin pressed for an appropriate sentence which befits the seriousness of the crimes and serves as a lesson as sexual offences are now becoming more prevalent.
The accused, who was unrepresented, expressed remorse for his actions and pleaded for leniency on the grounds that he wanted to look after his elderly mother. - BERNAMA