THE Sessions Court in Sandakan on Tuesday sentenced a 50-year-old father to 21 years’ imprisonment and 20 strokes of the cane after he pleaded guilty to raping and sexually assaulting his teenage daughter.

The accused, who faced two charges, was sentenced by Judge Roslinda Razali after admitting to the offences.

For the first charge, Roslinda sentenced the man to 20 years in prison and 18 strokes of the cane for raping his 15-year-old biological daughter under Section 376(3) of the Penal Code.

The offence was alleged to have taken place at about 3am on March 1 at an unnumbered house in Batu 21, Sandakan.

For the second charge, the accused was found guilty of committing physical sexual assault against the same victim at the same place and time.

The offence was charged under Section 14(a) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017, with the court imposing a seven-year jail term and five strokes of the cane.

The two sentences will run concurrently from the date of the accused’s arrest.

Roslinda also imposed an additional one-year jail term and two strokes of the cane under Section 16(1) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017, which provides for additional punishment upon conviction.

The additional sentence will run consecutively.

According to the facts of the case, the incident allegedly occurred while the teenager was sleeping in the living room of the house.

The victim’s mother had attempted to stop her husband’s actions but was assaulted, causing her to fear for her safety.

The victim lodged a police report the following day, leading to the accused’s arrest. – July 28, 2026