A contractor with 50 children from four wives has been sentenced to 18 years in jail for raping his 11-year-old daughter last year, reports said today.

Tengku Ismail Tengku Ibrahim, 56, was found guilty of the offence by a court in Kelantan but was spared an additional punishment of caning as he was above 50, the New Straits Times said.

"This thing should not have happened because (you) look like a religious and pious man. o­n top of that, you already have four wives to satisfy your desires," Judge Azman Abdullah said before passing sentence.

Muslim men in Malaysia are allowed to take four wives.

Seven witnesses, including the victim now 12, her elder brother and mother who is Tengku Ismail's fourth wife, testified against him. AFP