A MAN convicted of beating his infant daughter, which led to her death, was sentenced to 18 years in prison by Labuan High Court today.

Judge Leonard David Shim ordered the sentence to run from the date of his arrest on August 18, 2018.

Maidin Ibnu Hashim, 56, formerly a civil servant, had pleaded not guilty to murdering the nine-month-old girl at a point between August 10 and 13, 2018, in his rented house in Kampung Gersik Lama, when the case was first brought to High Court on January 25, 2022.

The prosecution alleged Maidin killed the child because he suspected she was not his daughter, while his wife is currently in prison for a drug offence.

The charge was subsequently amended from murder to culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

The hearing commenced on February 28 with the prosecution calling 15 witnesses during the course of the trial.

On May 15, the judge ordered the accused to enter his defence.

On August 15, 2018, a post-mortem showed the girl’s death was due to severe head injury, soft tissue injuries to the face, mixed superficial and deep dermal burns to the fingers and toes, and underlying bronchopneumonia.

Maidin was arrested the following day and initially charged with murder at the Magistrate’s Court on August 29. – Bernama, September 28, 2022.