JOHOR BARU: An Indian national pleaded not guilty at the Sessions Court here on Tuesday (Jan 10) to two charges of raping and committing unnatural sex on his daughter last month.
The 45-year-old accused made the plea after the charges were read to him in Tamil by the court interpreter in front of Judge Siti Noraida Sulaiman.
According to the first charge, the father of five raped his three-year-old daughter, which is an offence under Section 376(3) of the Penal Code for raping a person he was not permitted by law to marry.
It provides for up to 30 years in jail and at least 10 strokes of the cane upon conviction.
For the second charge, the accused had, with intent, conducted unnatural sex on the victim by sodomising her, which is an offence under Section 377C of the Penal Code for committing carnal intercourse against the order of nature without consent.
It provides for imprisonment for a term that may extend to 20 years, as well as whipping, if convicted.
Both acts were conducted inside a toilet at the family home in Taman Bukit Mewah, Tampoi, here on Dec 13, 2022.
The prosecution was conducted by Deputy Public Prosecutor Danial Munir, while the accused was not represented.
During the proceeding, Danial requested the court not to allow bail as the act was a non-bailable offence.
He also stated that the accused was also living together with the victim, which could pose a high chance that the accused would disturb the victim.
The court agreed not to allow bail and set March 12 for the case mention.
It is understood that the accused was arrested by the police at 11am on Dec 28 after receiving a police report from his wife.
The incident occurred while the wife, who is a local, was working in Singapore and the accused was staying with the victim, and his two other children while another two were at school.
