A father was sentenced to 45 years’ jail and 24 strokes of the cane after he pleaded guilty to 38 charges of committing sexual harassment, attempted rape and unnatural sex on his underage daughter.

Judge Yong Zarida Sazali of the Special Court for Sexual Crimes Against Children ordered the 35-year-old man to serve his jail sentence from the date of his arrest on July 12.

She also ordered the burger seller to undergo rehabilitation counselling for 10 years, and to be placed under police surveillance for three years after his release from prison.

The man was charged today with 26 counts of physical sexual harassment of his daughter, the first of five siblings, under Section 14 of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017, which was read together with Section 16 of the same act.

He was also charged with six counts of committing carnal intercourse against the order of nature without consent on the victim, now aged 14, under Section 377C of the Penal Code, and two counts of committing sexual connection by an object on the victim under Section 377CA of the same Code.

He was also charged with four counts of attempting to rape the girl.

He committed all the offences at three locations in Kuala Selangor between July 7, 2017, and July 7, 2019.

In mitigation, the man requested for a lighter punishment, saying that he had repented.

Deputy public prosecutor Norazalina Razali, however, pressed for a heavier sentence as well as whipping, because as a person in a relationship of trust, the man should not have taken advantage to commit physical sexual harassment or attempt to rape his own daughter.

Norazalina said the victim had been molested by the accused since she was 12 and the accused had committed all the other offences when the other family members were asleep or not home.

- Bernama