Singapore - A Singapore court on Tuesday sentenced a gardener who had raped a maid from Indonesia to 18 years in jail, media reports said.

Robiul Bhoreshuddin Mondal, 37, a Bangladeshi, confessed to the rape in police statements but later denied the accusation in court, claiming he didn't confess voluntarily.

The judge, however, found him guilty of breaking into the room of the 24-year-old maid and raping her on June 23 last year, the online edition of Straits Times newspaper reported.

He also ordered Robiul to be caned 24 times.

A fingerprint the 37-year-old had left on the door handle of the maid's room led to his arrest two days after the crime, the report said.

The victim had arrived in Singapore one week before the rape. (dpa)