KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 26 — A restaurant worker was sentenced to a total of 10 years in jail and given two strokes of the cane by the Sessions Court here today for committing physical sexual assault on his stepdaughter.

Judge Mohd Kafli Che Ali handed down the sentence on the 37-year-old man after he pleaded guilty to two counts of committing the offence on the girl.

The court sentenced him to five years in prison and one stroke of the cane on each charge, to be served concurrently from the date of arrest, which was December 8, 2022, meaning the man will only serve five years imprisonment.

He was also ordered to undergo rehabilitation counselling for a year and be placed under police supervision for one year after serving the jail sentence.

On both counts, he was charged with committing physical sexual assault on the girl, who was then 11 years old, in an apartment in Kepong, at 4am in mid-August 2023 and 2 am on December 2, 2023.

The charges were framed under Section 14(a) of the Sexual Offenses Against Children Act 2017 which provides for a maximum prison sentence of 20 years and whipping, upon conviction.

Deputy public prosecutor Noor Shakira Aliana Alias appeared for the prosecution, while lawyer Zulkifli Awang represented the accused. — Bernama