A Jordanian was sentenced on Wednesday to 13 years in prison with hard labour for sexually assaulting his 20-year-old daughter more than 200 times since she was 11, a judicial official said.

`The father, 46, used to sexually abuse his daughter when her mother and brother were out of the house, and he threatened her not to tell anybody` in Marka, near Amman, the official told AFP.

`Last year, the girl`s aunt wanted to find her a husband, but the girl refused and started to cry. Her aunt insisted to know the reason, so the girl told her about everything.`

Rape of a female under 15 is punishable by death in Jordan.

`The girl lost her virginity when she was over 15 years old after her father raped her,` another judicial source said.

A 40-year-old man was sentenced to death this month for raping a 14-year-old girl nine times in January.

Israa Tawalbeh, Jordan`s first female coroner, has told AFP that between 1,300 and 1,400 cases of sexual assault against children are reported in the kingdom every year.