Judge Surita Budin handed down the sentence after the 47-year-old man pleaded guilty to both charges.

He was sentenced to 18 years in jail and 10 strokes of the rotan for the first offence of raping the girl, and eight years in jail and one stroke of the rotan for sexually assaulting her, and an additional two years imprisonment and two strokes of the rotan because he was in a relationship of trust with the victim.

However, he was ordered to serve the jail sentences concurrently from the date of arrest, which was April 3 this year.

According to the first charge, the man was charged with raping the girl, who was then 11 years old, in a bedroom at their house in Jempol near here, at 12.01am between Dec 20 and 31, 2017.

The charge was framed under Section 376 (3) of the Penal Code which provides imprisonment for up to 30 years and liable to whipping of not less than 10 strokes of the rotan.

He was also charged with committing physical sexual assault on the girl when she was 12 years and two months old at the same location and time between April 11 and 30, 2018.

The charge was framed under Section 14 (a) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017 and read together with Section 16(a) of the same Act for committing an offence with a person in a relationship of trust.

According to the facts of the case, the victim told her mother and other siblings about the incident, but the accused denied it.

It was only on April 3 that the matter came to light when the 17-year-old victim told her friend about the incident who then reported the matter to a teacher and a police report was lodged on the same day.

During mitigation, the accused, who was unrepresented, asked the court for a lighter sentence because he had repented and regretted the heinous acts.

However, deputy public prosecutor Goh Hsiao Tung requested a commensurable sentence as the victim is his own child and the incidents would have caused serious trauma to the victim.