Man sentenced to 702 years in prison, 234 whippings for sexual assault of two daughters

MUAR - A father has been sentenced to 702 years in prison and 234 whippings by the Sessions Court here on Monday, on 19 counts of raping and 11 counts of sexually abusing his two biological daughters over the past six years.

The 53-year-old cleaning worker maintained his guilty plea, which was entered during the prosecution on July 16, before Judge Abu Bakar Manat.

According to charges one to nineteen, the accused was charged with committing heinous acts against his two daughters, aged 15 and 12, at two different residences here since 2017, with the most recent incident occurring in July of this year.

At the time of the incidents, the accused committed these horrendous acts against the victims when they were 9 and 10 years old, respectively.

The charges were filed under Section 376(3) of the Penal Code, which carries a penalty of imprisonment of up to 30 years and 10 strokes of the cane, if found guilty.

For charges twenty-one to thirty, the accused was charged with sexual abuse of the same two victims at the same time and place.

He was charged under Section 14(a) of the Child Sexual Offences Act 2017, read together with Section 16(1) of the same act.

If found guilty, the accused could be sentenced to imprisonment of up to 20 years and whipping.

Prior to the sentencing, Deputy Public Prosecutor Danial Munir requested a severe penalty to be imposed due to the heinous nature of the accused's actions, which would leave lasting trauma on the victims.

The prosecution also revealed that both victims were afraid to report their father's actions to their mother, as they were concerned about their mother's health, as she had kidney disease and high blood pressure.

The judge also became emotional upon learning that one of the victims was five weeks pregnant due to the irresponsible actions of the accused.

The accused, who was unrepresented by a lawyer, pleaded for a lenient sentence, expressing remorse for his actions.

The court subsequently handed down the maximum sentence of 30 years in prison and 10 strokes of the cane for each count of rape.

For the charges of sexual abuse, the court imposed a 10-year prison sentence and two strokes of the cane, along with an additional two years in prison and two strokes of the cane.

Judge Abu Bakar ordered that the sentences for both sets of charges be served concurrently, starting from the date of the accused's arrest on July 10 of this year.