A 28 year-old man who was described by the prosecution as a “monster”, failed in his appea for a lighter sentence yesterday (July 16).
The man prostituted his wife and sexually abused his daughter, and he was sentenced in the High Court to 25 years and 6 months in jail, the maximum 24 strokes of the cane and a $12,000 fine.
He pleaded guilty to four charges of prostituting his wife, forcing his 6-year-old daughter to perform sexual acts on him and molesting his 13-year-old niece in a hotel room.
He appeared in the Court of Appeal with his new lawyer on Thursday, Mr Mohammad Shafiq Haja Maideen, who argued for his sentence to be reduced to 18 years jail and 12 strokes of the cane, on the basis that High Court judge Chan Seng Onn had allowed the “disgust factor” of the accused’s conduct to cloud his judgment.
Judge of Appeal Judith Prakash, along with Judge of Appeal Tay Yong Kwang and Justice Woo Bih Li, said that descriptions of the man’s behavior wasn’t “exaggerated and extreme in any way.”
The three judges dismissed the appeal, which was heard over video-conferencing platform Zoom in light of Covid-19 safe distancing measures.
The perpetrator and victims cannot be named because of a gag order to protect the victims’ identities.