A security guard was today sentenced to 20 years in jail and 24 lashes after pleading guilty to raping a 10-year-old girl in a case that outraged the nation.

Judge Abu Bakar Katar told a court in Johor Bahru that the Mohamad Abbas Danus Baksan's "violent actions have traumatised the victim's family and society", the official Bernama news agency reported.

The girl, Nurulhuda Ghani, died after being gang-raped by three men, sodomised and strangled in a guard hut close to her home on Jan 17. She had been sent by her mother on an errand to a nearby grocery store.

The 47-year-old guard is also expected to face a charge of murder, which carries the death penalty. A second man has been arrested in the case and police are searching for a third.

The incident caused widespread public outrage, particularly as it was the second rape and murder involving a 10-year-old girl in as many weeks.

Public whippings

A cabinet minister has proposed public whippings and a special sex offenders register to stem the increase in child rape cases.

The government is also expected to discuss overhauling its anti-drug strategies following allegations that the two rapes and murders were carried out by heroin addicts.

According to official police statistics, the number of reported rape cases rose from 1,210 in 2000 to 1,354 in 2001 and 1,418 in 2002.

Almost two-thirds of the victims were under the age of 16. - AFP