Court to hear an appeal over 'monster dad' on April 25

KUALA LUMPUR: The hearing of an appeal for the "monster dad" who was convicted of 623 sexual crimes against his 15-year-old daughter will be heard on April 25 at the high court.
The 37-year-old man, whose name is being withheld to protect the identity of the victim is appealing to have his sentence reduced.
He was sentenced to 48 years in prison and 24 strokes of the rotan after he pleaded guilty to all the charges against him.
Defence counsel Cyrus Tiu who just took over the case on March 7, told the court that he would need some time to gather all the documents in the case.
Judge Azman Abdullah then fixed April 18 for written submissions and April 25 for the hearing of the appeal.
Tiu told reporters outside the courtroom that he had taken up the case as the accused was previously unrepresented.
"No one was representing this case, which is why I took up the case. It is proper for someone who has been accused of such a serious crime to be heard in court. It is everyone's right to be heard no matter how serious a crime he has committed," he told reporters.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Aimi Syazwani Sarmin appeared for the prosecution.
On Sept 8 last year, the Criminal Court On Sexual Crimes Against Children in Putrajaya sentenced the man after he pleaded guilty to 591 charges of sodomising, 30 charges of inappropriate touching, one charge of rape and another charge of sexually assaulting the victim, who is also his eldest daughter.
Judge Yong Zarida Sazali sentenced the father of three to 28 years in jail for rape and another 20 years for the sexual assaults.
He was also sentenced to 20 years in prison for 30 counts of inappropriate touching and the three jail sentences to run concurrently from the date of arrest on July 26. Hence he would serve 28 years in jail for these three penalties.
Yong Zarida also sentenced the man to 24 strokes of the rotan for sodomy, sexual assault and rape.
The court also ordered the man to undergo a 10-year rehabilitation counselling and to be placed under police surveillance for three years after completing his jail sentences.
He was also ordered to pay the victim RM10,000 compensation in default of 12 months' jail if he failed to settle the fine.
He was also ordered to complete a good behaviour bond of RM10,000 with one surety for a period of five years and to do community service for 240 hours within six months.
According to the facts of the case, on July 25, the girl told her mother about the sexual assaults after her father expressed his intention to take her two younger sisters under his care as she did not want her siblings to go through a similar experience.
The eldest child lived with the father while her sisters are with their mother following their parents' divorce.