A GARBAGE collector, who raped his 11-year-old mildly-retarded daughter three years ago, was only found out when police were investigating another molest charge in the family last April.

It appeared that his brother-in-law who was living with the family allegedly outraged the modesty of his two other daughters.

In police interviews, his fourth child revealed her father's sordid act and he was arrested.

The 40-year-old father, whose IQ of 60 also places him in the mildly-retarded group, was deemed fit to stand trial.

In the High Court on Monday, he pleaded guilty and was jailed for 16 years and ordered to be caned 18 times.

The court ordered the names of the father and daughter not to be published to protect the victim.

The man had lost his wife in 2004 due to a kidney illness.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Wndy Yap told the court that sometime in December 2006, the daughter, who has an IQ of 59, was sleeping with her two sisters when her father woke her up and told her to follow him to his bedroom.

There he tried to kiss her and ended up raping her despite her refusals.

Two days later, he tried to rape her again in the flat's toilet but had to stop when his youngest daughter walked in.

This charge of attempted rape was taken into consideration by Justice Chan Seng Onn in sentencing.

Relatives of the family told reporters outside the court that the youngest daughter is about 10 now, while her eldest sister is about 16. Her two brothers are aged 18 and 20.

The family was then living in a four-room flat in the east with their maternal grandmother and the brother-in-law.

The father initially maintained that he had no sexual intercourse with his daughter.

He claimed that he had returned rather drunk from a nightclub that day.

He had shared a taxi with a club's hostess but she declined to go up to his flat. However, while at home, he saw a woman resembling the hostess.

He claimed that he waved to her to go to his bedroom. Instead, she pulled down her trousers and got him aroused.

Asking Justice Chan for leniency, the father, who broke down repeatedly during the hearing, said he would like to return home soon to care for for his children.

The minimum sentence for raping a girl below the age of 14 is eight years jail and 12 strokes of the cane. The maximum is 20 years jail and 24 strokes.

The case against the brother-in-law will be heard next month.