KOTA KINABALU: A 38-year-old soldier was slapped with 23 years’ imprisonment and ordered to be given 15 strokes of the rotan for raping his teenage daughter three years ago.

       Session Court Judge Elsie Primus meted the sentence yesterday after she found the soldier guilty of raping his 13-year-old daughter at a house in Lok Kawi in Papar at around 9am on April 7, 2018.

       The court, in finding him guilty, said that the prosecution had proven its case beyond reasonable doubt and ordered the soldier to undergo a two-year supervision after he completes his jail term.

       The soldier was charged under Section 376(3) of the Penal Code which carries a jail term of between eight and 30 years, and whipping, upon conviction.

       He was charged on June 8, 2018. The prosecution had presented nine witnesses including his daughter during the trial.

       The court was told that the victim had been under the protection of the Welfare Department.