Court of Appeal judges Mohd Zawawi Salleh, Ahmadi Asnawi and Kamardin Hashim today upheld the punishment, which included 24 lashes, for the 40-year-old father who had pleaded guilty to 11 counts of rape and one oral sex charge.
The man’s jail term begins from his arrest on Sept 19, 2016.
Even with a one-third remission of the sentence, he would only be released when he is 90.
In dismissing the appeal, Zawawi, who chaired the bench, said the appellant took advantage of his daughter, who was then aged 16 years and six months, instead of caring for her.
“It is despicable in terms of religion and society’s ethics,” he said.
At the proceedings today, the man clad in green prison attire admitted committing the offences but claimed he didn’t know that the victim was his daughter.
“I admit what I did, I repent, I regret,” the man, who was unrepresented, said when urging the court to reduce his jail sentence so that he could return to society.
Deputy public prosecutor Zaki Asyraf Zubir urged the court to maintain the 80-year jail term, saying the appellant had taken advantage of his own daughter and should be kept away from society.
He said the rapes started from the night the victim arrived in Kuala Lumpur from Sarawak.
According to the facts of the case, the man took his daughter to stay at his rented room in Lorong Haji Taib, Kuala Lumpur, on Aug 2, 2016, after fetching her from the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA).
The girl, whom he had abandoned since she was six months old, had come to Kuala Lumpur to study at a college but was told by her father that the college did not exist.
On Sept 27, 2017, the High Court dismissed the man’s appeal to reduce the sentence meted out by the Sessions Court on Dec 30, 2016.