AN odd job worker was sent to jail for 13 years after the Court of Appeal today upheld his conviction and jail sentence for sexually assaulting his 13-year-old daughter five years ago.

A three-man panel of judges comprising Justices Hadhariah Syed Ismail, Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim and S.M. Komathy Suppiah also ordered the man to be whipped six times.

The court ordered the man, who was released on bail of RM15,000 with one surety pending disposal of the appeal, to begin his jail sentence today.

In the court’s unanimous decision, Justice Hadhariah said the man’s conviction for the offence was safe to be upheld and dismissed his appeal against his conviction and jail sentence by the High Court.

The Session Court initially acquitted and discharged the 42-year-old on April 20, 2021 for sexually assaulting his daughter, who was 13 years and four months’ old at that time, at an unnumbered house in a village in Kampar, Perak in July 2018.

The charge was framed under section 14(a) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017, which is punishable with a jail term not exceeding 20 years and shall be liable to whipping.

The prosecution appealed against the decision and on June 30 last year, the High Court allowed the prosecution’s appeal to set aside the man’s acquittal.

The High Court convicted the man for the offence and sentenced him to 10 years in jail and two strokes of the rotan.

The High Court imposed an additional sentence of three years in jail and four strokes of the rotan provided under section 16(1) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017 as he was in a relationship of trust with the victim, who is his biological daughter.

The High Court also ordered him to undergo counselling during the period of imprisonment and to be placed under police supervision for three years after completing his jail sentence.

Lawyer A. Srimurugan represented the man while deputy public prosecutors Solehah Noratikah Ismail and P. Sarulatha prosecuted. – Bernama, August 23, 2023.