Jail & strokes for raping kids

A man was sentencedon Tuesday to 32 years in jail and the maximum 24 strokes of the cane for raping his five daughters in a case described as "sickening" by the Singapore High Court justice.

"It was a sad and shameful abuse of trust and respect that allowed him to do what he did," said Justice Tay Yong Kwang.

The 45-year-old Muslim man, who enlisted the help of his multiple wives to rape the girls, pleaded guilty on Thursday.

The daughters were between 12 and 15 years old when the rapes took place between December 2003 and June 2005.

Tay said the case was unique in the city-state in that so many daughters became their father's prey.

All identities were withheld to protect the victims.

The eldest of the abused daughters reported her father to the police on June 24, 2005. He was arrested the next day.

Tay assured the eldest daughter she did "the right thing" in finally reporting her father to police.

The father subverted parts of the Koran to justify incest, Deputy
Public Prosecutor Eugene Lee told the court.

Altogether, the man has 10 wives and 66 offspring from "contractual marriages", permitted in some Islamic countries but invalid in Singapore. At least four wives connived in the incest.

While conducting religious lessons, the man convinced his wives that he had ownership over his children, which included having sex with them.

Forty-three charges were levelled against the man. The defendant pleaded guilty to nine of the charges. Tay took the remaining counts into consideration in sentencing.

Two of the girls became pregnant and had abortions, one of which was on the Indonesian island of Batam.

The girls, now in the care of the Ministry of Community Development, could not recollect the exact number of instances of abuse.

First Published: Apr 19, 2006 13:01 IST