Guess the race n religion?
Man who raped his cousin and ex-girlfriend gets jail, caning 3 days before turning 21
State Courts Singapore court crime - file photo
File photo of the State Courts in Singapore. (Photo: Jeremy Long)
Share this content
Bookmark
SINGAPORE: A man who raped his cousin while on bail for raping his ex-girlfriend was sentenced to jail for six years, nine months and two weeks on Thursday (Oct 3).
The offender, who cannot be named due to a gag order, was also sentenced to six strokes of the cane.
He intends to appeal against his sentence, said his lawyer Wee Pan Lee, who had pushed for reformative training instead.
The sentence comes three days before the rapist's 21st birthday, with the defence saying parties had endeavoured to settle the case before then. Offenders aged 21 and above are not eligible for reformative training.
The young man pleaded guilty last month to two charges of rape and one charge of affray for an unrelated incident, with another seven charges taken into consideration.
He raped his ex-girlfriend, who was 17 like him, in his bedroom in November 2015 while his family members were also in the house.
After raping her, he made her kneel in front of him and later scuffled with her.
While on bail and waiting to be called up for National Service about a year later, he raped his 16-year-old cousin and told her not to make a police report, as he was being investigated for the first rape.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Mansoor Amir had asked for at least seven years' jail and six strokes of the cane, saying the accused was recalcitrant and had committed serious and heinous offences.
The defence had urged instead for reformative training, saying that it would both deter the offender and rehabilitate him while prison would be only for deterrence.
He added that his client had committed the offences when he was 17 and 18 years old, and was only produced in court late last year.
"It's not his fault that the case was only brought to court last year," said the lawyer.
VERY SERIOUS AND HEINOUS CRIMES: JUDGE
District Judge Eddy Tham said the accused had "indeed committed very serious and heinous crimes", compounding the suffering of the ex-girlfriend by raping her twice and punching her in the eye.
"It was a relatively prolonged physical and mental violation inflicted on the victim," said the judge.
"Now what is really egregious is that the accused sees fit to repeat this heinous crime one year later. This time against an even younger victim who was aged 16," he added.
He said the rapist knew it was wrong and there would be serious consequences for him, when he made his cousin promise not to make a police report, and even "had the presence of mind" to delete messages in an attempt to avoid detection.
"It can only be said that the accused showed utterly no remorse for his earlier offence and was not averse to repeating his acts on another victim," said the judge.
He said the only real mitigating factors were his youth and plea of guilt.
"However, his youth and guilty plea pale in comparison to the harm caused to two very young girls," said the judge. "(Reformative training) will be glaringly inadequate in this case."
The judge added that there were positive points in the reformative training suitability report that showed the accused had shown improved maturity and a capacity to change.
He granted the accused his request for bail pending appeal, doubling the amount to S$20,000.
For each count of rape, he could have been jailed for up to 20 years and fined or caned.
For affray, he could have been jailed for up to a year, fined a maximum of S$5,000, or both.
Source: CNA/ll(cy)
Man who raped his cousin and ex-girlfriend gets jail, caning 3 days before turning 21
State Courts Singapore court crime - file photo
File photo of the State Courts in Singapore. (Photo: Jeremy Long)
Share this content
Bookmark
SINGAPORE: A man who raped his cousin while on bail for raping his ex-girlfriend was sentenced to jail for six years, nine months and two weeks on Thursday (Oct 3).
The offender, who cannot be named due to a gag order, was also sentenced to six strokes of the cane.
He intends to appeal against his sentence, said his lawyer Wee Pan Lee, who had pushed for reformative training instead.
The sentence comes three days before the rapist's 21st birthday, with the defence saying parties had endeavoured to settle the case before then. Offenders aged 21 and above are not eligible for reformative training.
The young man pleaded guilty last month to two charges of rape and one charge of affray for an unrelated incident, with another seven charges taken into consideration.
He raped his ex-girlfriend, who was 17 like him, in his bedroom in November 2015 while his family members were also in the house.
After raping her, he made her kneel in front of him and later scuffled with her.
While on bail and waiting to be called up for National Service about a year later, he raped his 16-year-old cousin and told her not to make a police report, as he was being investigated for the first rape.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Mansoor Amir had asked for at least seven years' jail and six strokes of the cane, saying the accused was recalcitrant and had committed serious and heinous offences.
The defence had urged instead for reformative training, saying that it would both deter the offender and rehabilitate him while prison would be only for deterrence.
He added that his client had committed the offences when he was 17 and 18 years old, and was only produced in court late last year.
"It's not his fault that the case was only brought to court last year," said the lawyer.
VERY SERIOUS AND HEINOUS CRIMES: JUDGE
District Judge Eddy Tham said the accused had "indeed committed very serious and heinous crimes", compounding the suffering of the ex-girlfriend by raping her twice and punching her in the eye.
"It was a relatively prolonged physical and mental violation inflicted on the victim," said the judge.
"Now what is really egregious is that the accused sees fit to repeat this heinous crime one year later. This time against an even younger victim who was aged 16," he added.
He said the rapist knew it was wrong and there would be serious consequences for him, when he made his cousin promise not to make a police report, and even "had the presence of mind" to delete messages in an attempt to avoid detection.
"It can only be said that the accused showed utterly no remorse for his earlier offence and was not averse to repeating his acts on another victim," said the judge.
He said the only real mitigating factors were his youth and plea of guilt.
"However, his youth and guilty plea pale in comparison to the harm caused to two very young girls," said the judge. "(Reformative training) will be glaringly inadequate in this case."
The judge added that there were positive points in the reformative training suitability report that showed the accused had shown improved maturity and a capacity to change.
He granted the accused his request for bail pending appeal, doubling the amount to S$20,000.
For each count of rape, he could have been jailed for up to 20 years and fined or caned.
For affray, he could have been jailed for up to a year, fined a maximum of S$5,000, or both.
Source: CNA/ll(cy)
