SIBU, Sept 23 — A welder was sentenced by the Sessions Court here today to a total of 28 years’ imprisonment and nine strokes of the cane for raping and sodomising his eight-year-old daughter.
Judge Musyiri Peet convicted the accused, 39, on his own guilty plea to two counts of incest under Section 376B of the Penal Code read together with Section 16 of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act (Soaca) 2017, and one count of committing carnal intercourse against the order of nature under Section 377C of the Penal Code read together with Section 16 of Soaca 2017.
The accused was sentenced to 10 years’ jail and three strokes of the cane for each incest charge, and eight years’ jail and three strokes of the cane for the third charge.
The court ordered the jail sentences to run consecutively from today, meaning the accused will spend the next 28 years behind bars.
He committed the offences on August 20 and between September 1 and 3 this year at a longhouse here.
According to the facts of the case, the girl’s aunt — the complainant in the case — was informed by the victim’s school teacher about rumours that the child had been raped by her father.
To verify this, they went to the victim’s longhouse and took her to a police station.
On September 4, the victim confided in her aunt that she had been raped by her father.
A police report was lodged the same day, leading to the accused’s immediate arrest.
Investigations revealed that the victim had been living with the accused since December 2024.
The victim had also been absent from school for an extended period and had not disclosed the incidents earlier due to fear.
A medical specialist who examined the victim confirmed she had sustained vaginal and anal tears.
During mitigation, the unrepresented accused expressed remorse for his actions and pleaded to the court for leniency.
In passing sentence, Judge Musyiri described the accused’s actions as “heinous and despicable”.
“It is not only a gross violation of the law but also a betrayal of the deepest trust a child places in a parent. Furthermore, the victim was only eight years old when the crimes were committed,” said the judge.
The prosecution was handled by deputy public prosecutor Cynthia Emmelda Jerry. — The Borneo Post
