KOTA KINABALU: A 56-year farmer was sentenced to 21 years' jail and ordered by the Sessions Court here to be caned 12 times for raping his pregnant 16-year-old daughter.

       Judge Elsie Primus found the farmer guilty of raping his daughter in a car along a village road in Kota Belud between February and April 2019.

       She meted out the sentence on the 56-year-old after ruling that the prosecution had proven its case beyond reasonable doubt.

       He was convicted under Section 376(3) of the Penal Code, which carries a jail term of between eight and 30 years and whipping not less than 10 times.

       In mitigation, counsel Luke Ressa Balang appealed for a lower jail term saying that there was no evidence of violence, no DNA and medical reports to show that the act of rape occurred.

       Balang also said that his client did not want to waste the court's time when he claimed trial as he was wanted a fair trial.

       He also urged the court to consider the age of the accused, who was suffering from high blood pressure.

       Deputy Public Prosecutor Mas Izzaty Lokman pressed for the maximum sentence as a deterrent while pointing out that the accused committed the act on his own daughter while she was pregnant.

       Mas Izzaty told the court that instead there were 60 actives cases of assault against children in the court currently and a message should be sent to future offenders.