Man found guilty of abduction and rape of drunk, unconscious woman
04 Jul 2017 11:57AM
Singapore
File photo of a gavel. (Photo: AFP)
By Vanessa Paige Chelvan
(Updated: 04 Jul 2017 12:00PM)
SINGAPORE: A 40-year-old man was found guilty on Tuesday (Jul 4) of the abduction and rape of an intoxicated, unconscious woman in 2014.
Bunker surveyor Ong Soon Heng volunteered to take the victim, then a 22-year-old student, home after she passed out drunk at Zouk. The pair had been partying with friends.
The club’s closed-circuit television captured Ong carrying the victim’s limp body out of Zouk and into his car in the early hours of Jul 24, 2014. They left the club at about 4am, but the victim never made it home.
She was found in Ong’s bed the next morning by her boyfriend, who had tracked her down using the Find My iPhone app. Ong denied he had done anything to her, but when confronted by her father later that day, admitted they had had consensual sex.
Prosecutors said the victim had been unconscious and could not have consented.
“It is difficult to accept (the victim) was in any condition to give consent, (seeing as she was) unconscious,” Judicial Commissioner Aedit Abdullah said on Tuesday.
He pointed to the evidence of the victim’s boyfriend, who testified that she was still passed out the next morning and had to be “dragged” out of Ong’s bed and into the car.
She arrived home in a stupor, and her alarmed father told his wife to take her to the hospital. Medical evidence based on the victim’s blood alcohol content also shows she would probably have remained unconscious throughout the night.
“There is no reason for (the victim’s boyfriend) to give anything but the truth,” the judge said. His version is “also supported by (the victim’s father) … nothing was raised to put their evidence in doubt”, he added.
He also rejected Ong’s claims that the pair were “in a relationship of sorts”, although they were known to be “good friends”. “The existence of a relationship is irrelevant because (she was) unconscious” and could not have given consent either way, the judge said.
The victim was so drunk she could not remember much of what had happened that night. It was her father who broke the news to her that she had been raped.
Judge Aedit said Ong had clearly “exploited” the victim when he “took the opportunity to move her to his residence, where he raped her”.
Ong is on bail, pending a sentencing hearing at a later date.
If convicted of rape, Ong could be jailed up to 20 years and caned. For abduction, he could be jailed up to seven years and fined.
04 Jul 2017 11:57AM
Singapore
File photo of a gavel. (Photo: AFP)
By Vanessa Paige Chelvan
(Updated: 04 Jul 2017 12:00PM)
SINGAPORE: A 40-year-old man was found guilty on Tuesday (Jul 4) of the abduction and rape of an intoxicated, unconscious woman in 2014.
Bunker surveyor Ong Soon Heng volunteered to take the victim, then a 22-year-old student, home after she passed out drunk at Zouk. The pair had been partying with friends.
The club’s closed-circuit television captured Ong carrying the victim’s limp body out of Zouk and into his car in the early hours of Jul 24, 2014. They left the club at about 4am, but the victim never made it home.
She was found in Ong’s bed the next morning by her boyfriend, who had tracked her down using the Find My iPhone app. Ong denied he had done anything to her, but when confronted by her father later that day, admitted they had had consensual sex.
Prosecutors said the victim had been unconscious and could not have consented.
“It is difficult to accept (the victim) was in any condition to give consent, (seeing as she was) unconscious,” Judicial Commissioner Aedit Abdullah said on Tuesday.
He pointed to the evidence of the victim’s boyfriend, who testified that she was still passed out the next morning and had to be “dragged” out of Ong’s bed and into the car.
She arrived home in a stupor, and her alarmed father told his wife to take her to the hospital. Medical evidence based on the victim’s blood alcohol content also shows she would probably have remained unconscious throughout the night.
“There is no reason for (the victim’s boyfriend) to give anything but the truth,” the judge said. His version is “also supported by (the victim’s father) … nothing was raised to put their evidence in doubt”, he added.
He also rejected Ong’s claims that the pair were “in a relationship of sorts”, although they were known to be “good friends”. “The existence of a relationship is irrelevant because (she was) unconscious” and could not have given consent either way, the judge said.
The victim was so drunk she could not remember much of what had happened that night. It was her father who broke the news to her that she had been raped.
Judge Aedit said Ong had clearly “exploited” the victim when he “took the opportunity to move her to his residence, where he raped her”.
Ong is on bail, pending a sentencing hearing at a later date.
If convicted of rape, Ong could be jailed up to 20 years and caned. For abduction, he could be jailed up to seven years and fined.
