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Man, 40, said 'it takes 2 hands to clap' when confronted for sexually assaulting teen daughter, jailed 17.5 years
He was also given 16 strokes of the cane.
Khine Zin Htet
March 05, 2026, 08:10 PM
A 40-year-old man, who said “it takes two hands to clap” after he sexually abused his teen daughter, was sentenced to 17.5 years’ jail and 16 strokes of the cane on Mar. 5.
He had pleaded guilty in September 2025 to two charges of sexual penetration of a minor under 16, and two charges of exploitative sexual penetration of a minor between 16 and 18.
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Nine other charges for other related sex offences were taken into consideration during sentencing.
The abuse started when the victim was 13 years old and lasted three years, from 2017 to 2020.
The defence had asked for 11 years and seven months in jail and 10 strokes of the cane, while the prosecution asked for at least 18 to 19 and a half years’ jail with 16 strokes of the cane.
In sentencing, the judge said the sentences put forward by the defence are "manifestly inadequate" and "betray a woeful lack of appreciation" of the abhorrent nature of his offending conduct and the harm caused to his own biological daughter.
His comment about it taking "two hands to clap" also implied that the victim was also to blame for their sexual relationship, the judge noted.
The judge also cited a psychiatric report of the man, which showed that he appeared to "prioritise his own sexual needs and discounted or minimised their impact on the victim".
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The accused cannot be named due to a gag order to protect the victim.
The case
According to court documents, the victim was born in 2003, while the man and his wife only got married in 2009. The couple later had two sons.
The victim was later raised by her grandmother, who had pretended to be her mother.
The father and mother then pretended to be the victim's brother and sister.
It was not until the victim saw her birth certificate by accident in primary school that she learnt the truth.
In mid-2017, the victim’s mother discovered text messages between the girl and her former boyfriend.
The man questioned the victim regarding the messages, but the conversation took an inappropriate turn, with the man asking the victim to demonstrate on him how she would be intimate with her ex-boyfriend.
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Between mid-2017 and September 2020, he touched the victim inappropriately and forced her to perform penetrative sexual acts with him.
At one point, the victim wrote him a letter asking him to stop.
In the letter, the victim asked the man if he ever cared about her feelings, and said he always lied that he would stop engaging in sexual activities with her, but he never did.
The man refrained from sexual activity with the victim for a while after receiving the letter but resumed shortly after.
Continued to assault her even after she got married
Even after the victim got married, court documents revealed the defendant continued to sexually assault her.
It was not specified when the victim was married.
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On Aug. 20, 2020, after the victim's husband had left for work, the man entered the victim's room and attempted to have sex with her.
In an effort to dissuade him, the victim, who was 16 years old at the time, offered to perform another sexual act instead, in hopes of putting an end to his behaviour.
Less than two weeks later, on Aug. 31 2020, the man attempted to open the victim's bedroom door at night but realised that she had locked it.
This made him furious, and he punched and kicked the walls of their house.
The following day, he attempted to touch her in the kitchen, but she pushed him away.
"It takes two hands to clap"
Upset that the victim had resisted his advances, the man threatened to tell the victim's husband about their relationship, court documents stated.
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The victim eventually confided in her mother about the man's behaviour.
However, when confronted by his wife, the man lashed out, saying: "It takes two hands to clap".
The victim also informed her husband that she had been raped by the man before, and her husband called the police.
The man was arrested on the same day at about 5pm after he surrendered himself to the police.
Impact on victim
According to the prosecution, the victim felt angry and betrayed by her father and had expressed urges to self-harm.
With her husband’s support, however, she did not engage in it.
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During the sexual acts, the victim felt scared and upset and wondered why her father would do these things to her.
At the same time, she was also grappling with the guilt of causing her father to be incarcerated.
