SINGAPORE - A man who sexually abused four of his five daughters over a 14-year period, raping three of them, was sentenced to a jail term of 33 years and two months, and given 24 strokes of the cane, on Friday (March 18).
In sentencing him, a High Court judge said this is one of the worst cases of rape and sexual abuse.
The 45-year-old man, who has seven children, had destroyed the lives of his daughters, "turned their home into a living hell" and caused "unimaginable misery and untold torment" for years, said Justice Tan Siong Thye.
The accused had also deprived three of his daughters and his younger son of food for five days and cut off the electricity supply to their lights, refrigerator and air-conditioner because he was angry with them.
Besides sexually abusing his daughters, he also physically abused them, his wife and younger son.
The trail of abuse was uncovered in November 2018 when one daughter made a police report, accompanied by a sister.
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The girl, now 16, is the youngest of the four abused girls, and second youngest among the five girls.
The man pleaded guilty last week to seven charges for offences committed against his fourth daughter when she was aged 12 to 13.
The charges comprise three for aggravated rape, one for aggravated sexual assault by penetration, two for aggravated outrage of modesty and one for ill-treatment of a child.
Another 26 charges were taken into consideration in sentencing.
This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.