A trader was sentenced to 18 years' jail and 10 strokes last Friday in Malaysia, for raping his 10-year-old daughter last September.

Sessions Court judge Ahmad Bazli Bahruddin imposed the sentence after the 50-year-old pleaded guilty.

The judge ordered the sentence to begin from Oct 13, the date he was arrested.

The father of eight was alleged to have raped his daughter, then aged 10 years and four months, at an unnumbered house in Beris Kubur Besar, Bachok, between 9.30pm and 11.15 pm on Sept 22.

According to the facts, the accused had gone to his ex-wife's house to fetch the victim to stay at his home before the incident happened but the victim refused to follow him.

However, after she was coaxed by her mother, she agreed to follow her father. About 11.30pm, when the victim was sent home by her sister, her mother noticed she was behaving differently and questioned her.

The victim then told her mother that she had been raped and that this was not the first time.
On Oct 12, the father went to the victim's house again and wanted to take her to his house, but the mother refused to allow him to take the girl.

The mother then lodged a police report.
Deputy public prosecutor Siti Hajar Alias prosecuted while the accused was unrepresented.