However, the six strokes of the rotan imposed by the High Court on the 60-year-old was removed as the law only provides whipping for men aged 50 and below.

The punishment for the offence under Section 376B (1) of the Penal Code is a jail term of between 10 years and 30 years plus whipping.

However, the court upheld the lower court’s sentence on the minimum jail term for the two charges and for it to run consecutively.

A three-member bench comprising judges Nor Bee Ariffin, M Gunalan and Hashim Hamzah heard the final appeal. Nor Bee chaired the hearing.

Deputy public prosecutor Muhammad Azmi Mashud appeared for the prosecution. Syahredzan Johan and Amanda Wong Yoke Ting represented the appellant on behalf of the National Legal Aid Bureau.

According to the facts of the case, the man married the victim’s mother in May 2017. Her older sister and the victim also moved in to stay with the man.

The first offence took place in July 2017 and the second on Oct 13, 2018 at a village in Selama, Perak.

Realising some changes in the girl’s physical appearance, the mother took her to a traditional medicine healer. Later, she took the girl to Hospital Selama where she was confirmed to be at an advanced stage of pregnancy.

After the girl narrated what happened, the mother lodged a police report.

The man fled from the village but police arrested him in Baling, Kedah, on Nov 13, 2018.

A DNA paternity test carried out at Hospital Penang confirmed he was the biological father of the baby.