The Court of Appeal in Putrajaya has affirmed the 42-year jail sentence given to an unemployed man who raped his underage stepdaughter 105 times over three years, ruling that he also be given 24 strokes of the rotan.
A three-man bench, comprised of Justices Datuk Hadhariah Syed Ismail, Datuk Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim, and Datuk Azmi Ariffin, rejected the man’s appeal against the jail sentence.
Justice Hadhariah, in delivering the court’s unanimous decision, emphasized the severity of the man’s actions, stating, “What kind of a father to rape his own daughter or stepdaughter, (even) one time we cannot forgive, what more 105 times.”
Fathers are supposed to protect their children and not hurt them, she said, adding that the court is more concerned with protecting young children and young girls.
She further expressed the court’s skepticism about the man’s remorse and urged the court to prioritize the protection of young children.
The man’s lawyer, K.A. Ramu, appealed to the court to reduce his client’s jail term to 30 years, arguing that his client was remorseful and wanted to return to society.
Deputy public prosecutor Dhiya Syazwani Izyan Mohd Tahir described the appellant as “a sick man” and argued that the 42-year imprisonment is appropriate, considering the gravity of the offenses.
The man was initially sentenced to 1,050 years in jail by the Klang Sessions Court in January 2021 after pleading guilty to 105 charges of raping the girl, who was 12 years old in 2018.
The High Court in Klang later reduced the sentence to 42 years and upheld the rotan sentence of 24 strokes, after which the man appealed to the Court of Appeal.
The incidents occured while the girl’s mother was at work, making the man’s actions all the more reprehensible.
