Father gets 15 years' jail, 10 whips for raping daughter with disability

 

The Kota Bharu Sessions Court in Kelantan has sentenced a man to 15 years in jail and 10 whippings for raping his daughter who was born with impaired legs.

The 50-year-old accused pleaded guilty as soon as his charges were read out to him in front of judge Ahmad Bazli Bahruddin.

According to the charges, on Aug 18 at 11.59pm, the accused raped his 16-year-old biological daughter at a house in Kuala Krai.

The accused, who also has physical disabilities and worked as a street hawker, was charged under Section 376(3) of the Penal Code, which carries a sentence of a jail term no less than eight years and no more than 30 years as well as whipping no less than 10 times.

The case was handled by Deputy Public Prosecutor Abu Arsalnaa Zainal Abidin, while the accused had no legal representatives.

'Very serious crime' 

Abu Alsalnaa earlier asked for the accused to receive a commensurate sentence to serve as a lesson to society seeing as such cases were becoming more widespread. 

“The accused, as a father, should have been responsible towards his own biological children, even more so when the victim is someone who has physical disabilities.

“This is a very serious crime that should serve as a lesson for society. I believe the trauma and its effect on the victim will last her entire life, so I ask for a commensurate sentence,” the DPP said.

In his plea, the accused asked for a light sentence considering he has dependents and earns a low income.

According to the case facts, the incidents started in March 2017, which was a week after the death of the victim’s stepmother.

It finally came to light with solid evidence after the victim recorded a video of what her father did.

The victim and close family members reported the matter to the Community Rehabilitation Centre chairperson where the victim was undergoing training before she was referred to the hospital and later on to the police. - Mkini